W.Va. Voter Turnout Lowest in at Least Six Decades

  This election, West Virginia Republicans made historic gains and the state’s voters set a low mark.

A paltry 37.3 percent of registered voters cast ballots for Tuesday’s election. The secretary of state’s website says the turnout is the lowest for a regular general election since at least 1950.

For the first midterm election since its introduction here in 2002, early voting dropped this year.

The next lowest general election turnout in the last six decades was 40 percent in the 1998 midterms. The secretary of state’s numbers only date back to 1950.

The previous three midterms, turnout had stayed fairly consistent. In 2010, turnout was 43.4 percent, compared to 41.6 percent in 2006 and 42.4 percent in 2002.