Election Day rain: What history says about voter turnout

Well, we know rain is in the forecast today, and there is some evidence, as you might suspect, weather has impacted voter turnout in previous elections. Yeah, so Cody Matz joins us now with a closer look at the role weather can play in certain spots on Election Day. Good morning. Yeah, and we'll see how Minnesota stacks up on that. Yeah, good morning. So, obviously, we're expecting rain today, and Keith, we'll have more on that forecast coming up. That could, though, mean to and lead to fewer people heading to the polls. Now, three political science professors studied the impact of precipitation in presidential elections between 1940 and 2000. They found an inch above the usual rainfall decreased turnout by a little less than 1%. May not sound like much, but in fact, in our simulations, we found that in numerous close elections, weather could have been determinative of the outcome. Now, Florida State's Dr. Brad Gomez says their research found Richard Nixon could have actually beaten JFK with worse weather nationwide on Election Day back in 1960. Al Gore could have also may have beaten George W. Bush in 2000 if it wasn't for rain that fell in the Florida panhandle that year. But Minnesotans, we break the mold. We don't seem to mind whatever weather comes our way. Minnesota's biggest midterm election was back in 2018, biggest turnout rather. And it was a year that it actually rained and snowed across the state. Now these three professors say it's more likely big weather events here in Minnesota like a blizzard. Could actually have more of an impact than anything else on voter turnout. We have never had a Halloween blizzard in the state of Minnesota. I have no idea what you're talking about. But it's unlikely this time. Early voting, too, which also factors in. And so to keep in mind, this was stats from 1940 to 2000, which early voting was far less of a thing back then. Sure. Interesting, though. Yeah. We like to have voter turnout, we have one of the highest almost every year. We do, and I like my numbers and I like my stats. Don't let the weather change what we're doing. Get out there and vote. If we did, we'd be in our homes all winter long. That is so true.