International IDEA Launches Website on Global Voter Turnout

Press Release:

International IDEA Launches Website on Global Voter Turnout

Stockholm 6 July 1999 -- International IDEA (the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance) has launched a website with the most comprehensive global collection of voter turnout statistics available (www.idea.int/turnout/). Regularly updated voter turnout figures for 360 national presidential and 1,129 parliamentary elections in 171 independent states since 1945 are presented country by country (by clicking on maps), using both the number of registered voters and voting age population as indicators. League tables on voter turnout in the world’s regions are also featured.

The site also includes the most recent indicators on literacy and human development, type of electoral system currently used and information on whether voting is compulsory or not.

The database is an indispensable tool for journalists, academics, and practitioners. It allows users to compare turnout between different countries and regions of the world, assess how political participation has changed over the last 50 years, determine whether turnout decreases from founding elections to second or third generation elections, and analyze the link between literacy rates and voter turnout.

International IDEA (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance) was founded in February 1995. The Institute’s overall objective is to promote and advance sustainable democracy world-wide and to improve and consolidate electoral processes. To date, Members are Australia, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, India, Namibia, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, the International Federation of Journalists, the International Press Institute, Parliamentarians for Global Action, and Transparency International. The Institute also has co-operative agreements with the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Commission of Jurists, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and the United Nations Development Programme. Switzerland also contributes to the work of the Institute.