Cape Cod and the Berkshires seem to have lost electoral clout over the past four years, according to preliminary town-by-town voter turnout in this month’s presidential election. The map below (click to enlarge) shows a drop in the total number of votes cast in several communities at the far edges of the state. At the same time, there was a significant jump in the number of people voting in Boston and several Gateway Cities, as well as in some exurbs that have recently grown in population.

The biggest percentage jump was in Lawrence, where the number of votes cast for president rose from 16,458 to 19,436 — or 18.1 percent. The mill city was followed by several small towns in the west. The next highest jump among communities casting at least 10,000 votes was the South Shore suburb of Middleborough, which leaped from 10,029 to 11,209 votes.

In terms of raw numbers, the biggest increase was in Boston, where a net gain of 24,406 voters pushed the total to 232,642 (a gain of 11.7 percent). That was followed by Worcester’s gain of 3,792 (up 6.7 percent) and Cambridge’s 3,620 (up 8.6 percent). Turnout was also up in the Gateway Cities of Brockton (9.4 percent), Fitchburg (4.4 percent), Haverhill (8.7 percent), Holyoke (4.0 percent), Lowell (8.1 percent), New Bedford (1.3 percent), and Springfield (6.0 percent).

In Pittsfield, however, the number of votes cast rose by a negligible 0.2 percent, and Fall River registered a drop of 2.0 percent.

Almost all of the other declines came in Berkshire and Cape Cod towns that have recently declined in population and also have a relatively high median age. But the a few long-established communities north of Boston — Everett, Melrose, and Saugus — also showed slight declines in voter activity.

NOTE: These figures are the most recent available; it is possible that a few communities will report new vote totals before the end of the year, but no significant change is expected.