Voter turnout is an important factor to democracy. Many misconceptions such as one believing their vote won’t affect anything cause eligible voters to stay away from the polls. The dominance of the two-party democratic has created a growing number of voters who don’t identify themselves as being aligned with either major party. Other factors such as voters having to declare party affiliation prior to voting in primaries also discourage voters. Several blame the frequency of elections and the large number of candidates on the low turnouts. Traditionally the presidential election usually sees the biggest voter turnout whereas midterm elections usually turnout half the voters of the presidential. This years midterm elections, however, seemed to challenge that in many states.
Throughout history, voter turnout in states with the traditionalistic subculture label has tended to be lower than those with individualistic or moralistic subculture. So, states such as Texas usually have a lower turnout than states like New York. The presidential elections normally see about 60% of the eligible population whereas midterms see around 35%. In 2016, Texas ranked 48th out of 50 states for voter turnout. This was, however, a step up from the 28.3% in the 2014 election, bringing it to last place. The last time turnout for a midterm was greater than 50% was in 1914, before women had the right to vote.
In the past, voter turnout has spiked in the middle of large political events. The last two historical midterms were in 1914, the start of WW1, and 1966, in the midst of the Civil Rights movement. These both had rates at or above 50%. Critics say that the oval office is the reason for the spike this year, as it is similar to time when there were major upheavals in politics. Racial division, disputes over immigration and domestic terrorism certainly qualify as significant issues driving voters to the polls.
This years election concluded that more than 47% of the eligible population came to the polls, a big increase from the 36.7% in 2014 and 41% in 2010. This is actually the highest turnout since 1966 which saw 49% of the population voting in the midterms. Additionally, it is the highest total for a mid-term election in history, with nearly 116 million voters. Looking specifically at the parties, there seems to be more Democrats voting than Republicans. This was framed as being a fight against the Trump Administration and Republic majority. The president boasted a red wave, visiting many rallies and told his followers to vote as if his name was on the ballot.Some claim that Trump’s achievement in these first two years is that he has increased political engagement within a large group of the American public. Of the voters that say Trump influenced their mid-term vote, 39% said they casted ballots against Trump, whereas 25% said they were supporting him. There was certainly a blue wave but the red wave from previous years continued on as well.
Total voting in the 2014 election in Texas was actually surpassed just within this years early voting. Some districts even saw turnout that was equal to or above the 2016 presidential run. Many of this is associated with some close races for many US Senate positions as well as gubernatorial races. In Texas, the close Senate rate between O’Rourke and Cruz turned the 28.3% voter turnout from 2014 into 46.1% this year. Governor had a competitive governor race this year and created an increase from 38.6% to 55%.
There are also other factors that critics claimed influenced turnout. One is known as the Taylor Swift effect. After endorsing the Democrats and encouraging fans to show up to polls, voter registrations immediately spiked. Additionally, many voters took advantage of early voting and mail in ballots as nearly 39 million people cast ballots early this year, compared to the 27.4 million in 2014.
There were, unfortunately, some cases of voter suppression. Many voters were taken off registration rolls, which is apparently a standard process for states. Several states also passed laws making voting more difficult. Republican leaders frequently discuss voter fraud which civil rights groups say are one of the causes of voter intimidation. Furthermore, this increase in voter turnout could distract from suppression of certain populations such as those without IDs. North Dakota is an example as a new voter ID law coming out weeks before the election caused the tribes to struggle to get new IDs with addresses, which many living on reservations don’t have. Nonetheless, Native voter turnout steeply increased in North Dakota as they fought back.
Evidently, this mid-term displayed how polarized the parties are getting. In a poll, 63% said Trump won’t be able to get his policies approved whereas 61% say the same about the Democrats. Approximately half of all Americans think that the relationship between the two parties will just grow worse.
Regardless, this election broke several record, including the fundraising for congressional elections, number of female candidates running and getting elected, as well as specific cases such as the youngest woman elected, first Native American woman elected, first Muslim woman elected, first bisexual Senator and first gay governor elected. All of these cases display the significant leftward shift this election took the country on. It will be interesting to see how the country moves forward in passing policies with a divided Congress and the effects this will have on the 2020 presidential election.