On November 6, an estimated 113 million Americans took to the polls to vote in the highly anticipated 2018 midterm elections. This marked the first time in history that over 100 million votes were cast in a midterm election, with the 49 percent voter participation exceeding the 36.4 percent reported in 2014 and the 41 percent in 2010.
Despite the spike in this year’s participation and strong voter enthusiasm, these rates are consistently softer than the 55 to 62 percent generally observed for presidential or general elections, although those figures are not too impressive in themselves. Though voting is a civic duty and an essential component of a functioning democracy, we often find that registered voters simply do not show up every time or even half the time.…