Voter turnout for the 2018 midterm elections reached new highs: in all, an estimated 113 million voters cast their ballots, making this year the first midterm to exceed 100 million votes, CBS News reports.
According to the United States Election Project, nearly 48% of eligible voters exercised their right in these midterms, compared to almost 39% in the 2014 election. While the turnout still lags behind 2016’s presidential election—where 56% of eligible voters cast their ballots—it’s a high for the midterms.
This trend was visible even before election day. As of Nov. 1, the number of Texans who cast an early ballot had topped the state’s entire turnout for the 2014 midterms. Another 19 states plus the District of Columbia saw an early voter turnout higher than that of 2014.
A lot of this had to do with the youngest voting generation. According to The Atlantic, more than 3.3 million voters ages 18 to 29 voted via early ballot, a 188% increase from 2014.
But let’s not give the millennials too much credit. This demographic historically has the lowest voter turnout, and while they had the greatest increase in numbers in terms of early voting, they were still the smallest percentage of early voters. People aged 65 and up made up most of the early voting population.
