Midterm Turnout Broke Record

Americans were definitely fired up for this year's midterm elections: Turnout was almost 50%, the highest for a midterm since 1914—which the BBC points out was so long ago it was six years prior to women gaining the right to vote. The 49.2% turnout rivaled that of some presidential elections, including 1996, when 51.7% of eligible adults voted, and was a huge increase from the 72-year-low of 37% in the 2014 midterms. Washington state had the highest turnout, at 69.4%, while turnout in Texas rose from 28.3% to 46.1%. Some 25 states had turnout higher than 50%. The roughly 116 million voters included 51.7 million Democrats and 47.4 million Republicans, reports Fortune. (Before the election, observers noticed "something special" was happening with early voting.)