2018 Turnout Rates
States United Action
Last Updated: May 4, 2022
1 Overview
In 2018, the last midterm election, we saw record turnout rates for a non-presidential election year. In spite of this record-breaking turnout, there still remains a large gap between voting rates in primaries versus general elections. Below we present turnout rates for the 2018 primary versus the 2018 general election.
The average turnout rate for the primary elections was 26.78% of registered voters, while the average turnout rate for the general election was 60.44% of registered voters.
This means that, on average, one third of general election voters did not vote in the primary in 2018. This varies across states—in some places the difference was as little as 20%, and in others the disparity isn’t quite as large. But, across the board, the turnout in primaries was significantly lower in every state.
Why does this matter?
Primaries are a critical part of the election cycle because voters who participate have a strong voice in determining who will ultimately be nominated by each party to run in the general election. Voting in the primaries increases a voter’s chances of choosing a candidate in the general election that represents them best.
Every voter can increase their influence on the political process by voting in both the primary and general elections. This is particularly important for voters to understand during this election cycle, where there are many Election Deniers running that could interfere with future elections if they win.
2 Methodology
Below we present the turnout rates for the 2018 elections. The turnout rate is computed as the percent of votes cast for the highest statewide office on the ballot (usually governor) divided by the total number of registered voters. This is also the method most secretaries of state offices use to calculate voter turnout.
An alternative way of estimating turnout is to divide the votes cast by the Citizen Voting Age Population (or the total number of potential voters). We opted to use only the portion of voters as a portion of registered voters to highlight the fact that there was no additional hurdle and that the turnout rates for primaries are low even among registered voters.
The data for each state was obtained from their secretary of state webpages.
3 Turnout Rates
The graph below presents the turnout rates for the 2018 primary and general elections for the 30 states that have statewide races for governor, attorney general, or secretary of state in 2022 where an Election Denier is running.
