--- title: 2014 Midterm Turnout Lowest Since World War II description: The last time voter turnout was this low, the U.S. was fighting WWII canonical: https://time.com/3576090/midterm-elections-turnout-world-war-two/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-10T17:17:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:20:20.694Z article:section: Politics og:title: 2014 Midterm Turnout Lowest Since World War II og:description: The last time voter turnout was this low, the U.S. was fighting WWII og:url: https://time.com/3576090/midterm-elections-turnout-world-war-two/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt604a52bd5360a895/698767f22dce010db69dbb53/vote-midterm-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4600 og:image:height: 2588 og:image:alt: Voters cast their ballots at a polling station in Alhambra, Calif. on November 4, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 2014 Midterm Turnout Lowest Since World War II twitter:description: The last time voter turnout was this low, the U.S. was fighting WWII twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt604a52bd5360a895/698767f22dce010db69dbb53/vote-midterm-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Voter Turnout in Midterm Elections Hits 72-Year Low > Sponsored content. 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It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=05ee2176-3cdf-4c64-b7b2-a3524324b6c9&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 85,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 37.0% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Nov 10, 2014 5:17 PM UTC  Voters cast their ballots at a polling station in Alhambra, Calif. on November 4, 2014. Voters cast their ballots at a polling station in Alhambra, Calif. on November 4, 2014. Frederic J. Brown—AFP/Getty Images  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Nov 10, 2014 5:17 PM UTC The last time voter turnout for a national election was as low as it was on Nov.4, Hitler was still in power, and Mitch McConnell was only nine months old. Only 36.4% of eligible voters voted in this year’s midterm elections, down from 40.9% who voted in 2010, according to preliminary analysis by [Michael McDonald ](http://online.wsj.com/articles/election-2014-results-show-limits-of-big-data-1415585721)at the University of Florida. The last time voter turnout was that low was 1942, when only 33.9% of voters cast ballots, according to the [United States Elections Project.](http://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present) That was also a year that the U.S. established the European Theater of Operations in WWII, so a large share of the voting population was a little busy doing other things. Voter turnout in presidential elections is historically much higher than in midterms– 58.2% of eligible voters voted in 2012, and 61.6% voted in 2008, the highest turnout since 1968\. In other words, turnout for Obama’s first presidential election was almost double the 2014 midterm turnout. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3576090/midterm-elections-turnout-world-war-two/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3576090/midterm-elections-turnout-world-war-two/"},"headline":"Voter Turnout in Midterm Elections Hits 72-Year Low","datePublished":"2014-11-10T17:17:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:20:20.694Z","description":"The last time voter turnout was this low, the U.S. was fighting WWII","url":"https://time.com/3576090/midterm-elections-turnout-world-war-two/","keywords":["2014 Election","Obama","elections","Mitch McConnell","Hitler","WWII"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt604a52bd5360a895/698767f22dce010db69dbb53/vote-midterm-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt604a52bd5360a895/698767f22dce010db69dbb53/vote-midterm-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Voters cast their ballots at a polling station in Alhambra, Calif. on November 4, 2014.","caption":"Voters cast their ballots at a polling station in Alhambra, Calif. on November 4, 2014.","creditText":"Frederic J. 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