Surprising Turnout Rates in 2026 Midterms

Brennan Center: “Voter turnout in the midterm elections this week was sky-high: According to political scientist Michael McDonald, it was the second-highest turnout rate in a midterm year since 1914, exceeded only by the 2018 midterms.”

“But talking about total turnout obscures some important trends. For instance, while overall turnout was indeed very high, that wasn’t the case everywhere. Turnout was especially high in majority-minority counties that were subject to elevated protections under the 1965 Voting Rights Act until 2013, known as preclearance requirements. In these counties, turnout was as much as 10 percentage points higher than in 2022 — an enormous increase, potentially due to anger over the evisceration of the Voting Rights Act earlier this year in Louisiana v. Callais.”