http://www.npr.org/2016/03/02/468918065/republican-super-tuesday-turnout?sc=twHere's Just How Massive Republicans' Super Tuesday Turnout Was
Updated March 3, 20169:05 AM ET Published March 2, 20162:28 PM ET
Danielle Kurtzleben
If voter turnout is any indicator of enthusiasm, this year's GOP voters are way, way more pumped than 2012 voters were. Democrats, meanwhile? Their excitement seems to have dimmed since 2008.
Last night, more than 8.5 million Republicans turned out to vote in the 11 GOP Super Tuesday states that reported results. That suggests far more enthusiasm than the last time Republicans picked a nominee. In those same 11 states in 2012, turnout totaled only around 4.7 million.
That makes this year's turnout in those 11 states 81 percent higher than four years ago.
Contrast that with the Democrats. In the Dems' 11 states reporting results from last night, turnout totaled only around 5.9 million — that's around 2.6 million fewer people than came out in those states 2008, when Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were in the middle of what would would be a long, hard-fought race.
Here's how that looked on a state-by-state basis. Only in Colorado did Democrats exceed their 2008 turnout. On the GOP side, Vermont was the only place with lower turnout than in 2012.
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