Position | Total Votes Cast |
---|---|
President | 5,551,310 |
Senator | 5,446,293 |
Attorney General | 5,393,460 |
Auditor General | 5,316,244 |
State Treasurer | 5,296,063 |
Additionally, two counties still have not sent in their full computerized totals - Wayne county is still holding back 15 out of their 36 Districts, and of course Philadelphia County is holding back 21 Districts out of their 1687. The notation on the web-page shows:
The differences in the totals puzzle me - why would someone vote for only some of the five? I didn't see anything listing other candidates, or Write-In totals. PA has an atrocious system!
You will find the same phenomenon in every state. More people vote for President than for Senator. More will vote for Senator (or Governor) than for any other statewide office.
It's an issue of awareness. Thanks to the advertising, every voter knows who's running for President and they have an opinion on who they want to win. A few will come to the Senator line, have no opinion and won't vote. Then, even more will arrive at the Attorney General line...and have never heard of either party. They won't vote. And so on...