Indiana Voter Turnout Up In 2018 After Historically Poor Rate In Last Midterm Primary

A fifth of all Hoosier registered voters cast a ballot in last month’s primary election. 

Turnout normalized this year after historically poor turnout in the last midterm primary.

The 20 percent turnout is roughly on par with four of the last five midterm elections. And it’s a significant improvement from the last midterm, 2014 – when just 14 percent of all registered voters cast ballots.

The county with the highest turnout rate was Jay, at 57 percent. The Secretary of State’s office attributes that to a large number of competitive local races. It’s the only county in the state with more than a 40 percent turnout.  

Absentee voting was also up – it continued its steady increase and accounted for 20 percent of voters this cycle. The rate of Hoosiers who vote early hasn’t declined in any primary election for 14 years.