Explain the term 'turnout'.

Turnout is the proportion of registered voters who cast a ballot at a given election, expressed as a percentage. Some political commentators have turned to the ‘turnout’ at certain elections when measuring political participation. Turnout at the 2017 election was the highest it has been for 25 years, at 69%. Conversely, turnout was lowest in 2011, when only 59% of the electorate turned out. This abysmal turn out lead to the POWER report which looked into ways of galvanising politics, including; lowering the voting age to 16. Turnout at referendums is generally higher than at general elections. For example, the Scottish referendum had 85% turnout, partially because 16-year olds were allowed to vote, and did so in large numbers. Political commentators have argued that this is because referendums are based on specifics issues, for example; the EU referendum, with had a turnout of 72%, but would have been more if it weren’t for flooding in certain parts of the country, was a vote solely on whether Britain should leave or stay in the European Union. The EU referendum