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Michigan midterm turnout soars to 56 year high. Which counties stood out?

A stacked bar chart shows the division of Michiganders into who voted republican, democrat, 3rd-party, as well as who didn't vote and who isn't registered. 2014 is the highest turnout on the chart.
Kaye LaFond
/
Michigan Radio
After 2014 saw the lowest midterm voter turnout in Michigan in 24 years, 2018 saw the highest in 56 years.

Voter turnout during Michigan's 2018 midterms was the highest it's been in 56 years. The unofficial results released by the State of Michigan put 2018 turnout at 58% of registered voters. That stands in sharp contrast to 2014, when turnout was the lowest it had been in 24 years -- just 43% of registered voters. 

Every county in Michigan saw an increase in turnout of at least seven percent between 2014 and 2018. The biggest change happened in Oceana, Grand Traverse, and Kent counties, with voter turnout increases of 23%, 19%, and 19%, respectively. It's also worth noting that Leelanau and Keweenaw counties held onto the top 2 spots for overall turnout from 2014 to 2018, although they reversed places. 

The first interactive map below shows 2014 voter turnout by county. The second map shows 2018 turnout, and also contains nformation on percent change between the two years if you click on a county.

Kaye is an alumnus of Michigan Tech's environmental engineering program. She got her start making maps for the Traverse City-Based water news organization Circle of Blue, and, since then, she's been pretty devoted to science communication and data visualization.
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