Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories
Protesters gather at the Wisconsin State Capitol, holding signs.

Trump's Water Policies Put America's Drinking Water at Risk

America at 250: A Country in Distress

America at 250: A Country in Distress

I Alone Can (Fix) Destroy It

I Alone Can (Fix) Destroy It

a house made of brown cardboard in a person's hands.

Homelessness Just Declined in the U.S.–Trump’s Plans Will Take Us Backwards.

The 5 states with the biggest (and smallest) increases in voter registration

Voter registration table

Washington, D.C., saw the nation's biggest increase in voter registration from 2016 to 2020.

Caroline Brehman/Getty Images
Sara Swann
By Sara SwannAug 20, 2021
Sara Swann

As a staff writer, Sara covers a variety of democracy reform issues, including voting rights, money in politics, gerrymandering and civic education. Prior to joining The Fulcrum in May 2019, Sara reported on local government on Maryland's Eastern Shore for the USA Today network. She is a native West Virginian and a graduate of Syracuse University.

See More Writings by author

Despite the coronavirus pandemic throwing election administrators and voters for a loop in 2020, nearly every state reported increases in the number of registered voters compared to the previous presidential contest. A few grew their voter rolls by more than 20 percent.

Overall, the United States added nearly 14 million voters to the rolls, a 6.5 percent bump from 2016. Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia reported their voter registration data to the Election Assistance Commission, which released the numbers in its post-election report this week. (North Dakota does not require voter registration.)

Thirty-two states and D.C. reported registration rates higher than the national average, while 18 states fell below that mark.

These states (and D.C.) saw the biggest increases in registered voters from 2016 to 2020:

  • District of Columbia, 27 percent
  • South Carolina, 22 percent
  • Nevada, 21 percent
  • Utah, 18 percent
  • Texas, 18 percent

But some states saw minimal growth, or even declines, in voter registration:

    • New York, -16 percent
    • Indiana, -3 percent
    • Iowa, 1 percent
    • Louisiana, 1 percent
    • West Virginia, 1 percent

    Latest news

    Bruce Springsteen In Concert, facing his audience.
    Pop Culture

    Springsteen’s October D.C. Festival Pushes Music Into Democracy Fight

    America at 250: The Next Expansion of the American Promise
    Economy

    America at 250: The Next Expansion of the American Promise

    Read More

    The Façade of the American Dream: Reimagining the next 250 years
    a woman in a green shirt and black gloves vacuuming a gray ottoman
    Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

    The Façade of the American Dream: Reimagining the next 250 years

    Since the birth of the United States, people have been dreaming of the American "Good Life."

    This dream accelerated after the Industrial Revolution arrived in the U.S. in the 1800s. Innovative manufacturing practices integrated new technologies, lowering costs and spurring economic growth. As a result, millions of people gained access to affordable consumer goods. These changes improved living standards, making the dream attainable for more people.

    Keep ReadingShow less
    Thoughts on an Anniversary
    A table with many books and candles on it
    Photo by Ryan Wallace on Unsplash

    Thoughts on an Anniversary

    As part of a collaboration between The Fulcrum's NextGen initiative and Made By Us, The Fulcrum is publishing Letters to America, a series created through the Youth250 project that invites Gen Z to reflect on the nation’s past, present, and future as the United States approaches its 250th anniversary.

    In small towns across the nation, in accordance with ours of Madison New Jersey, we will gather to recognize an anniversary. Though this milestone has been one of many, I ask that it not be a mere nod to the curiosities of the past, but the spark of an ongoing admiration for all that led us here.

    Keep ReadingShow less
    A gavel.

    The rule of law, American democracy, constitutional rights, and judicial independence.

    Getty Images, David Talukdar

    In Texas, People Don’t Kill People, Guns Kill People

    It has been said that a good prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. Apparently, that’s not the case in very red Collin County, Texas, where a self-described recovering alcoholic fatally shot his daughter in the chest, only to be the beneficiary of a particularly lenient grand jury. As a retired justice of the New York State Supreme Court, the case intrigued me and I tried to understand why the prosecutor had failed to obtain an indictment against him.

    In January 2025, the victim and her boyfriend traveled from their home in England to visit her father at his home in Collin County where the shooting had occurred. Although the evidence presented to a grand jury cannot be disclosed, it is reasonably assumed that the grand jury heard the statement made by the father to the police at the scene immediately following the shooting. He related how he had taken his daughter, at her request, to see his gun, and that when he brought her to his bedroom and removed the gun from a cabinet in which he kept it, “it went off.” He could not recall if his finger had been on the trigger.

    Keep ReadingShow less
    Two college students presenting project to class

    As America nears its 250th anniversary, learn why schools, mentoring, and leadership development are critical to preparing the next generation of leaders.

    10'000 Hours / Getty Images

    America at 250: A Wake-Up Call for Leadership Development

    As America approaches its 250th birthday, we've been reflecting on the leadership that built our nation and sustained it through two and a half centuries of challenge and change. From local communities to national institutions, America's progress has always depended on people who were willing to take initiative, serve others, and help navigate moments of uncertainty and opportunity.

    As we celebrate these leaders for the impact they had on history, a critical question surfaces: Where—and how—did they learn to lead?

    Keep ReadingShow less
    © Copyright 2026