National voter turnout in the 2026 midterm election reached its second-highest level in over a century, powered by strong growth across the Deep South.
But in Maryland, where nearly one in three eligible voters is Black, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the election’s pull to its electorate was noticeably weaker.
Among the nation’s 252 million eligible voters, national turnout hit roughly 49%. That figure sits just one point behind the 2018 midterms, which marked the highest participation rate since 1914, and represents a 3 percent increase over 2022, according to data from University of Florida Election Lab.
Large turnout growth concentrated in deep southern states where Democrats secured several unexpected wins. Compared with the previous midterm election, turnout jumped 13 percentage points in Mississippi, where Democrat Scott Colom held a narrow lead over Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in an uncalled race.
Alabama saw a 6 percentage point increase alongside a gubernatorial victory for Republican Tommy Tuberville by his narrowest margin since 2002, while South Carolina experienced a 5 percentage point jump as Democrats successfully flipped a Senate seat.
Black turnout rises in Georgia
In Georgia, where Democrats flipped the governor’s office, overall turnout decreased slightly from the 2022 midterm. A Brennan Center review subsequently revealed that participation among Black voters in the state experienced a sharp increase compared to the previous midterm, whereas white participation declined. Across the Deep South, an analysis from journalist G. Elliott Morris showed that counties with higher Black resident populations saw turnout approach 2024 presidential-election levels.
In contrast, turnout in Maryland held nearly flat compared to the 2022 midterm, the Maryland Daily Record reported. Participation rates dropped this year across 13 of Maryland’s 24 counties, based on unofficial figures provided by the Maryland State Board of Elections, which has yet to conclude its count of the second wave of mail-in ballots in every county.
Turnout did rise in all three of Maryland’s Black-majority jurisdictions. Charles and Prince George’s counties posted the largest increases in the state, rising 6 and 5 percentage points, respectively, while Baltimore City ticked up by 1 point. Even so, those localized gains failed to lift statewide turnout, which rose by less than half a point compared to 2022.
Eastern Shore turnout remains high despite Question 3
The Eastern Shore has traditionally maintained higher turnout than the rest of Maryland. Its nine counties, alongside Harford County and part of Baltimore County, comprise Republican Rep. Andy Harris’s 1st District, which remains the state’s only Republican-held congressional seat.
Turnout in that region stayed relatively high this year, but the inclusion of Question 3 on the ballot—which allows lawmakers to redraw the district before 2028—failed to draw additional voters to the polls. Turnout across the nine Eastern Shore counties fell from 52.9% in 2022 to 51.2%, remaining above the statewide rate of 49.7%. Worcester, Cecil, and Kent counties experienced the steepest drops, each declining by more than 4 percentage points.
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