2026 Youth Voter Turnout Second-Highest for a Midterm Election in the Last 30 Years
Posted by Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement on November 10, 2026
The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) estimates that 27% of young people voted in the 2026 midterm elections, which matches their early estimate of youth electoral participation from the 2022 midterms. It is the second-highest midterm youth voter turnout in the past 30 years, trailing only the 2018 election cycle.
This exclusive early estimate is based on data from The Voter Poll by SSRS and population data calculated by CIRCLE. Exit-poll-based data can overestimate voter turnout. There is a +/- 2 percentage point margin of error, so youth turnout could be as low as 25% and as high as 29%. We will update this estimate in Spring 2027 when voter-file-based data becomes available.
When compared with our early estimates from previous midterm cycles, this 27% estimate is a reliable indicator that youth voter turnout was similar to the most recent midterm and remains strong compared to previous decades. Immediately after the 2010 and 2014 elections, we estimated that about 20% of youth had voted in those elections—some of the lowest rates of youth participation ever in a midterm cycle. In 2018, our early estimate put youth turnout at 31%—a historic high for young people in a midterm. Youth turnout remained relatively high in 2022 (27%), and 2026 matched it.
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