Why was voter turnout so low in the election of 1820?

by sunxiaohu

I just saw this graph from Carl Bialik of fivethirtyeight.com Why did voter turnout drop to 10% in 1820? http://i0.wp.com/espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/bialik-turnout-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&w=1150&ssl=1

Gama_Rex

The 1820 election featured President James Monroe running effectively unopposed for reelection and winning a nearly-unanimous result (one rogue elector voted for John Quincy Adams just to prevent Monroe from having a unanimous result, believing that only George Washington should ever be elected unanimously). The effective one party state would collapse in on itself by the end of Monroe's second term, but at 1820 there was effectively no reason to vote even if you were in a state that democratically elected electors because it was Monroe or nothing.