So I ' m sure a lot of Republicans didn ' t bother voting in CA because it wouldn ' t make a difference . Same thing with Democrats in TX . Right . So there ' s no reason to assume it ' s anything but a wash . And I ' m sure a lot of Democrats don ' t bother voting in CA and a lot of Republicans don ' t bother in Texas , because they know the state ' s already safe . Had the 2016 election been decided by popular vote the voter turnout would be completely different , and there is no way of knowing what that would be . There ' s no evidence that ' s true , or at least that it would make a significant difference . People are usually just too lazy to go and do it and it is a convenient excuse . 5560 % sounds about right for the number of Americans who can be bothered to show up .