The highest recorded midterm election turnout in history is approximately 50%.
Posted by The NPR Politics Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 7 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 75%
The NPR Politics PodcastSep 29, 2026
The sources consistently identify the highest recorded US midterm turnout as roughly 50%, from 2018 (about 49–50.3% of eligible voters per the US Elections Project) and matching 1914 (50.4%). The claim departs from the passage only in dropping the speaker's 'record-breaking' framing, which is not a material change.
What was said
… they're going to be put at risk of voting, but I do think it makes it a little less simple to just say this is going to be a low turnout election because people are so scared. You know, midterm elections are generally lower turnout than presidentials. In fact, like, the highest recorded midterm election ever is only around 50% turnout, and so it would even be possible, I think, for this to be a record breaking turnout number, even with all of these fears. I just think it's a, it's kind of an interesting thing to wade through. …
The NPR Politics Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The US Elections Project data cited by Vox, Fortune, Statista and Indiana University put 2018 midterm turnout at roughly 49–50.3% of eligible voters, the highest midterm rate since 1914.[1][3][4][5]
Supports. Britannica (2026) states that 2018 midterm turnout was about 50%, the highest since 1914, which was about 50.4%.[3][6]
Supports. Census-based and Pew analyses report 2018 midterm turnout above 50% (53% of citizen voting-age population), which places the record in the same roughly 50% range under a different measure.[2][7]
Context. The 2022 midterms (about 52.2% per Census) and 1982 also exceeded 50% under the Census measure, so the record depends on which measure is used, but all measures cluster near 50%.[8]
Sources
8 sources: 2 primary, 2 tier 2, 4 not rated
- 12018 voter turnout: Was it as impressive as it seemed?incontext.indiana.edu · primary source · cited for: supports
- 2Voter Turnout Rates Among All Voting Age and Major ...census.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 3The 2018 midterms had the highest turnout since before World ...vox.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 4fortune.com › 2018/11/14 › voter-turnout-highest2018 Midterm Voter Turnout Highest Since 1914 | Fortunefortune.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Chart: Highest Midterm Voter Turnout In Over A Century | Statistastatista.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6United States midterm elections | Definition, History ...britannica.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 7Historic highs in 2018 voter turnout extended across racial and ethnic groupspewresearch.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 8Midterm election turnout among eligible voters stayed high in 2022nbcnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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