While many college students have probably finished up with midterm exams and papers, there’s a bigger kind of midterm approaching: the 2022 midterm elections on November 8th. Federal elections such as the presidential election that happen every four years get the most media coverage, as can be expected, so it is easy to miss these more local but nonetheless important elections.
The House of Representatives seats are arguably the most important election that encompasses the midterms. A federal position, Representatives serve for two year terms and represent their state-based congressional districts( you can find your incumbent Representative here). Following this schedule, Representatives are therefore elected during presidential election years as well as off-years, such as 2022. Some states will also be holding Senator elections this year. Because the six-year terms of Senators are staggered, every midterm election there are one-third of Senate seats up for grabs.
Besides these federal positions, many voters will also be voting on local positions ranging from school board representatives to mayors. Because this varies on a state-by-state basis, it is important to stay informed about which elected positions will be on your ballot. To find out what will be on your ballot this November election, take a look at Ballotpedia’s sample ballot tool.
So we’ve covered the basics of what the midterm elections are, but have yet to discuss the major underlying problem of these elections: the disappointing voter turnout. Why do less voters show up to these elections that cover important leadership ranging from Congressional to citywide? Between 1972 and 2018, the national midterm voter turnout ranged around 50%. 2018 saw the highest turnout at 53.4% in the past 40 years. Americans have been typically cited as a lazy population in terms of their political participation, which is a narrow way of viewing midterm turnout. There are many factors that can hamper a person’s ability to vote, ranging from citizenship status to accessibility of resources. Nevertheless, the American midterm election statistics are discouraging to consider, especially since a decent amount of eligible voters in the United States are not even registered to vote. For the 2020 election, roughly 239 million citizens were eligible to vote and yet only 66% of them voted. And that was a presidential election.
Despite the trend of young people becoming increasingly politically active in recent years, college campuses tend to have low voter turnout for midterm elections. Denison University is no exception. “Traditionally, as with most midterm election rates across college campuses, [Denison voter turnout] is pretty low,” says Tait, a friend and member of Denison’s voter engagement student organization, also known as DU Votes. Denison University’s election turnout mirrors the national trends in that less voters show up for midterm elections in comparison to presidential elections.
“Even though midterms tend to fly under the radar, they are extremely important,” says Tait. He points to lack of national attention and education in explaining why he believes midterm voter turnout on campuses is low. Midterms are “state-specific, town-specific” and often students are unaware of these elections. Education is a crucial part of voting and elections; not only should citizens be educated on what is on their ballot, they should also have resources at their disposal that allow them to understand their voting rights. Empowering voters should be a national trend if we ever want to fix the wicked problem of midterm voter turnout.
Some states have same-day voter registration on election day; if you are not registered to vote yet, check out when your state has registration deadlines.
