Voter interest is at a record low for tonight's midterms

Despite tonight's midterm elections being the most expensive in American history, voter interest is at a record low.

Though the GOP expects wins in both the House and the Senate, some Senate races are likely to be too close to call. Voters are deeply divided about what President Obama should do during his final two years in office, and surveys have shown that voter interest is much lower than it was in the elections four years ago.

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that 58 percent of Republicans were interested in the midterm campaigns, as were 57 percent of Democrats, as of late October. But at the same time in 2010, 70 percent of Republicans were interested, and two-thirds of Democrats were interested in 2006.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The New York Times predicts likely runoffs in Georgia and Louisiana's Senate races, and late vote counts in Alaska, Colorado, and Iowa. Uncertainty about the midterms, according to the Times, is "a fitting match for the mood of the nation," as concerns about the economy, ISIS, and Ebola reach a fever pitch. Both parties "have done little to inspire the electorate," the Times notes, with both Republicans and Democrats lacking defined platforms.

Whatever the outcome of tonight's events, the Times says, it is "not likely to result in a drastic change of policy." Obama will still defend his health care law, and Republicans will either compromise or work against him.