In the 2012 United States general election, approximately 54.9% of citizens who were eligible to vote participated in the election. This means that slightly over half of the eligible voters cast their votes in the 2012 general election. The voter turnout was higher than in the previous presidential election in 2008, where the turnout was around 53.6%. However, it was lower than the turnout in the 1960s and early 1970s when it consistently exceeded 60%.