Turnout up, everywhere in Pa., since the last midterm

Pennsylvania's turnout jumped from 43 percent in 2014 to 58 percent in this year’s midterm.

• Emily Previti/PA Post
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Emily is a reporter for WITF who’s been covering voting and elections since July 2019 as part of her former role with statehouse accountability news organization PA Post. She was the senior reporter for statewide public media collaboration Keystone Crossroads. Previously, she covered city hall for PennLive/The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.), was a watchdog and city hall reporter at The Press of Atlantic City and reported for the Northwest Herald. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
  
  See other articles by Emily Previti for WITF.

 Emily Previti / Keystone Crossroads

Midterm voter turnout increased up statewide in Pennsylvania from 43 percent in 2014 to 58 percent in 2018.

(Harrisburg) — Voter turnout was up in every county in Pennsylvania this year compared to the last midterm election in 2014.

Statewide, it jumped from 43 percent in 2014 to 58 percent, according to our analysis of Department of State data.

Preliminary ballot counts suggested as much, but the state only just released data this week making it official.

Turnout surged most in Blair County, where it was up 21 percentage points to 60 percent.

That increase was followed closely by Lawrence and suburban Philadelphia’s Chester, Montgomery and Bucks counties.

Montgomery had two-thirds of registered voters participating in last week’s election, the highest of Pa.’s 67 counties.

Turnout was lowest in Pike County, at less than a third, but that was still up higher than the midterm in 2014.

Voter participation rates didn’t surpass rates for the presidential election at the state or county level.

The state hasn’t yet released precinct-level data that would confirm anecdotal reports of polling places with higher turnout than 2016.

Sometimes, your mornings are just too busy to catch the news beyond a headline or two. Don’t worry. The Morning Agenda has got your back. Each weekday morning, host Tim Lambert will keep you informed, amused, enlightened and up-to-date on what’s happening in central Pennsylvania and the rest of this great commonwealth.

Learn More