About 160 million people will vote in the 2024 presidential election, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which reported record turnout in 2020 with about 159 million voters.

But the number of people who will decide the race between former president Donald Trump And Vice President Kamala Harris represents only a fraction of those who are eligible to vote.

Historically, presidential elections attract the largest number of voters – especially one as tight and divisive as this — while about 70% of registered voters participate, according to the United States Election Project, which tracks voter turnout statistics. By comparison, only about 50% of registered voters participate in non-presidential years, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

This disparity is also found at the state level.

So how many people will vote – and how many should – in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania is a key swing statewith 19 electoral votes at stake and perhaps the race for the White House on his back.

How many voters are there in Pennsylvania?

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have spent considerable amounts of money time and money into the Keystone State in recent months in hopes of energizing their base and getting voters to vote.

This year, there are about 9 million registered voters in Pennsylvania – split roughly 47% Democrats, 42% Republicans, with the remainder unaffiliated or belonging to minor parties, according to the State Department of Pennsylvania.

If the story is true, about 7 million people have voted or will vote, representing about 70 percent of all eligible voters, based on voter turnout estimates from the United States Election Project.

In the last presidential election, when President Joe Biden narrowly took the state from Trump, about 6.9 million people voted, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State. That number fell to about 4 million the following year and remained in that range through the 2023 race, based on Pennsylvania’s record voter turnout in recent elections.

This article was originally published on Erie Times-News: 2024 voter turnout: How many people will vote in swing state Pennsylvania