November 8, 2014

Maine had top turnout

Washington Post Across the country, turnout was dismally low in Tuesday’s midterm elections, when an estimated 36.6 percent of eligible voters made their way to the polls. That’s the lowest turnout in any election since 1940.

But one state stood out: In Maine, 59.3 percent of the 1 million residents who were eligible to vote made their voices heard, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Elections Project.

Other states where more than half of voters showed up were also key players in the battle for critical governorships and control of the U.S. Senate. Turnout topped 55 percent in Alaska, 52 percent in Colorado and 50 percent in Iowa, all states where Republicans won or are leading races for Democratic-held Senate seats. Turnout almost reached 57 percent in Wisconsin, where Gov. Scott Walker (R) won a pitched reelection battle, and 51 percent in Minnesota, where voters routinely show up in relatively high numbers.

On the other hand, voter apathy was especially acute in states that lacked exciting races and big spending. Fewer than 30 percent of voters in Indiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Utah bothered to cast ballots.

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