• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Independent Voter News
  • Campaign Finance
  • Civic Ed
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Events
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Newsletter>
  3. newsletter>

Which states had the highest turnout for the midterms?

The Fulcrum
November 15, 2022



Which states had the highest turnout in 2022?

No, the votes are not yet all counted. But the U.S. Election Project has used a combination of released vote totals and projections to estimate turnout for the midterm elections. So far, the numbers indicate a dip of a few percentage points from 2018, which had seen the highest voter participation in a century.

Some highlights from the estimates:

  • Minnesota had the highest estimated voter turnout at 61.6 percent.
  • Three vote-by-mail states cracked the top 10: Colorado (59.2 percent), Oregon (56.2 percent) and Vermont (55.5 percent).
  • The two states that use ranked-choice voting for federal and state elections also made the top 10: Maine (60.9 percent) and Alaska (57 percent).
  • Seven of the 10 states with the highest turnout featured hard-fought races for senator and/or governor.
  • Tennessee had the lowest turnout at 33.5 percent.

Read more.

The state of voting

Finally, Election Day arrived and the courts and legislatures had nothing left to do in regard to election management. But voters in some states had the opportunity to change how elections will be run in the future.

For example:

  • Michigan voters amended the state Constitution to establish a nine-day early voting period and to expand mail ballot access.
  • In Connecticut, the voters authorized lawmakers to consider legislation to establish early in-person voting. (It is one of four states that do not offer early in-person voting right now.)
  • The people of Nebraska voted to create a photo ID requirement for voters.
  • In Nevada, the people approved a ballot initiative to adopt open primaries with a ranked-choice general election. The measure needs to be approved again in two years in order to go into effect.
  • And the people of Ohio voted to bar noncitizens from voting in municipal elections.

Read more.

Video: What happened on the ballot

Ballotpedia's editor in chief, Geoff Pallay, and managing editor for ballot measures, Ryan Byrne, had been tracking initiatives across the country. They got together virtually to analyze the results, compared the results to prior elections as well as discussing what happened with key measures related to abortion, marijuana and election policy.

Watch.

Also in the news

Fact check: 2022 midterm election was secure, contrary to claim of mail-in ballot fraud (USA Today)

Republicans’ 2022 Lesson: Voters Who Trust Elections Are More Likely to Vote (The New York Times)

Nevada high court rejects plea to stop county's hand-count (The Associated Press)

Georgia’s young voters ready for Dec. 6 Senate runoff after new election rules tripped up some in midterms (Georgia Recorder)

Insufficient paper ballots in GOP precincts among allegations against Harris County, Abbott says (ABC 13)

Upcoming events

Mindfulness and Meditation -The Great Reset - Nov. 15

Unify Challenge - Unify America - Nov. 15

And Now What? A Post-Election Review for Independents and Friends - IndependentVoting.org - Nov. 15

A Sense of Place: Embracing First Nations Peoples - Peace Through Action USA - Nov. 15

2022 Election Recap: What’s Next For The Anti-Corruption Movement? - RepresentUs - Nov. 15

Hold America Together: Dialogue Across The Divide Zoom Event - BridgeUSA - Nov. 15

Inspiring Stories: Where Do We Go From Here? - The Guibord Center - Nov. 16

Democracy Happy Hour - Fix Democracy First - Nov. 16

newsletter

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Confirm that you are not a bot.
×
Follow

Support Democracy Journalism; Join The Fulcrum

The Fulcrum daily platform is where insiders and outsiders to politics are informed, meet, talk, and act to repair our democracy and make it live and work in our everyday lives. Now more than ever our democracy needs a trustworthy outlet

Contribute
Contributors

Chief Justice John Roberts and Chief Justice Roger Taney are Twins– separated by only 165 years

Stephen E. Herbits

Conservatives attacking Americans’ First Amendment rights

Steve Corbin

To advance racial equity, policy makers must move away from the "Black and Brown" discourse

Julio A. Alicea

Policymakers must address worsening civil unrest post Roe

Sarah K. Burke

Video: How to salvage U.S. democracy from the "tyranny of the minority"

Our Staff

What "Progress" should look like, and what we get wrong

Damien De Pyle
latest News

There is no magic pill for postpartum depression

Priya Iyer
1h

Advancing human rights, worldwide

Leland R. Beaumont
1h

How statelessness gambles with the lives of American families

Samantha Sitterly
27 September

Podcast: Is reunification still possible?

Our Staff
27 September

Pin the blame on the other party

Rachel Bonar
26 September

Dark magic: Drug companies and the art of deception

Robert Pearl
26 September
Videos
Video: Expert baffled by Trump contradicting legal team

Video: Expert baffled by Trump contradicting legal team

Our Staff
Video: Do white leaders hinder black aspirations?

Video: Do white leaders hinder black aspirations?

Our Staff
Video: How to prepare for student loan repayments returning

Video: How to prepare for student loan repayments returning

Our Staff
Video: The history of Labor Day

Video: The history of Labor Day

Our Staff
Video: Trump allies begin to flip as prosecutions move forward

Video: Trump allies begin to flip as prosecutions move forward

Our Staff
Video Rewind: Trans-partisan practices and the "superpower of respect"

Video Rewind: Trans-partisan practices and the "superpower of respect"

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Is reunification still possible?

Our Staff
27 September

Podcast: All politics is local

Our Staff
22 September

Podcast: How states hold fair elections

Our Staff
14 September

Podcast: The MAGA Bubble, Bidenonmics and Playing the Victim

Debilyn Molineaux
David Riordan
12 September
Recommended
There is no magic pill for postpartum depression

There is no magic pill for postpartum depression

Big Picture
Advancing human rights, worldwide

Advancing human rights, worldwide

Big Picture
Chief Justice John Roberts and Chief Justice Roger Taney are Twins– separated by only 165 years

Chief Justice John Roberts and Chief Justice Roger Taney are Twins– separated by only 165 years

Big Picture
How statelessness gambles with the lives of American families

How statelessness gambles with the lives of American families

Big Picture
Conservatives attacking Americans’ First Amendment rights

Conservatives attacking Americans’ First Amendment rights

Big Picture
Podcast: Is reunification still possible?

Podcast: Is reunification still possible?

Podcasts