Voter interest low this year, except in election battleground states

Americans are more tuned out than usual to elections, with voters paying less attention to congressional races and campaigns reaching out to fewer people.

But when it comes to the heated battleground states, the scenario is reversed, with signs that voters, bombarded with ads, are zeroed in.

“We are seeing record early voting in places like Iowa, and Louisiana is off the charts right now. They are two times what they were in 2010,” said Michael McDonald, a political science professor at the University of Florida and head of the United States Elections Project.

“Everything looks as though we are having high turnout for midterm elections, and that is not the apathy that the national polls are showing is taking place.”

The two pictures reflect the reality of midterm congressional elections, when there is no contest for the White House. Some states don’t even have a Senate election this year, and races were decided months ago in states where one party or the other essentially conceded. In many of those states, apathy reins.

The Washington Post released a poll this week that showed a drop in the amount of national interest compared with 2010 and 2006 — the past two midterm election years.

“Only a quarter of all registered voters say they are paying very close attention, while 15 percent say that they are not paying attention at all,” the poll analysis said. “Four years ago, the number of people paying very close attention eclipsed those paying no attention by a 3-to-1 margin.”

Just 22 percent of voters polled — down from 34 percent four years ago — said they had been contacted by someone regarding a campaign.

Part of the reason may be the dearth of competitive congressional races. In 2006, Democrats picked up 31 House seats by campaigning against the Iraq War and using President Bush’s poor approval ratings. In 2010, there were more competitive House seats than any other election since 1992, according to the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, and Republicans picked up 63 seats in the House.

This year, about two dozen House seats are competitive.

David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, said this election year feels like 2006 turned on its head.

“There was a lot of unhappiness then among Democrats and on the left toward President Bush,” Mr. Yepsen said. “Even Republicans were a little turned off and worried about turnout.”

Mr. Yepsen said some voters have been turned off this election season by a flood of television advertising.

“They were already unhappy with the gridlock and the name playing, and now they’ve been inundated with this. A lot of people have said, ’To heck with it,’” he said.