Election 2012: Linn County Voter Turnout for Presidential Race Lowest Since George W. Bush Versus Al Gore

It seems that presidential campaigns get longer, more expensive and more noisy every four years.

With that increased attention, you'd assume voters in Linn County who see more than their fare share of political advertisements, would be more likely to vote each election.

But according to data from the Iowa Secretary of State's office dating back to the 2000 election, that's not the case. In fact, voter turnout in the area has decreased with each presidential election since the 2004 election between President George W. Bush and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, even after this year's most expensive campaign of all time.

76 percent of registered Linn County voters turned out this year, compared with approximately 78 percent in 2008 and 83 percent in 2004. However, in the 2000 presidential election turnout was significantly lower, at 71 percent.

If it's any consolation, turnout in Linn County is usually higher than the state average.