POLITICS: Voter Turnout and Democratic Participation U.S. midterm elections historically see 40-45% voter participation compared to 55-60% in presidential cycles, a pattern that has persisted since the 1970s despite increased voter registration efforts. The 2022 midterms broke this trend with 47.3% turnout—the highest in 40 years—driven largely by abortion rights mobilization following Dobbs v. Jackson. This matters because midterm participation directly shapes congressional power dynamics; lower engagement typically favors the party not in the White House, yet higher engagement can disrupt this historical pattern when single issues override traditional voting calculus. Understanding participation fluctuations reveals how electoral outcomes depend less on ideology shifting than on which constituencies actually vote, making voter mobilization strategy as consequential as polling numbers.