Voting turnout in US presidential elections has dropped since 1960. Midterm election turnout has also declined over the last 40 years. In 1962 midterm turnout, 47 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. In the 2002 midterm elections, only 39.7 percent of the American voter cast a ballot.
Subsequently there was a slight spike in the turnout result of midterm elections for 2006. The election resulted in a sweeping victory for the Democratic Party which captured the House of Representatives, the Senate, and a majority of governorships and state legislatures from the Republican Party. Political analysts consider reasons for the Democratic party takeover that include: the decline of the public image of George W. Bush, the dissatisfaction of the handling of both Hurricane Katrina and the War in Iraq, Bush’s legislative defeat regarding Social Security Reform, and the culture of corruption, which were the series of scandals in 2006 involving Republican politicians.
In the 2010 midterm election the Republican Party gained 63 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and gained 6 seats in the U.S. Senate. (They also gained 680 seats in state legislative races.) In the 2012 election the Republican Party gained 8 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and lost 2 seats in the U.S. Senate.
[The Republicans continue to hold the majority in the US Congress. In the 2012 election the Democrat Party lost 8 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and gained 2 seats in the U.S. Senate. After the 2014 midterm election, in the House of Representatives there were 247 Republicans, 186 Democrats, and there were 2 vacant seats in the House of Representatives. In the Senate there were 54 Republicans, 44 Democrats, and 2 Independents in the Senate. After the 2016 presidential election and currently in 2017, in the House of Representatives there are 240 Republicans, 194 Democrats, and there is 1 vacant seat. In the Senate there are 52 Republicans, 46 Democrats, and there are 2 Independents.]
a. What do you think was the reasons for the reversal turnout results for the Republican Party’s fortunes (in the House of Representatives)?
b. Do you think there will be little or no party changes in the 2020 general elections? If so, explain why you think so?
c. Do you think there will be little or a greater voter turnout in the 2020 general elections? If so, explain why you think so?
