Voter turnout in House special elections often much lower than general elections Special elections to the U.S. House as a share of votes cast in previous general election, 1987-2017 Note: Does not include 20 special elections held concurrently Source: Pew Research Center analysis of election data from U.S House of Representatives state elections authorities,
By and large, House special elections are low-turnout events. Excluding the 20 special elections held concurrently with regular elections, turnout in the House special elections we examined was, on average, about half that of the previous general election in the same district. The most extreme case occurred in November 2008, when a special election was held to fill the remaining weeks in Democratic Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones’ term representing Ohio’s 11th District. Democrat Marcia Fudge had already won the regular election for the incoming Congress two weeks earlier, when nearly 250,000 voters cast ballots; Fudge was unopposed in the separate special election, and just 8,844 people voted (8,597 of them for Fudge).
States sometimes will schedule a special election for the same day as the regular election, partly to save on the expense of holding a separate election and partly to give the winner a bit of a seniority boost (because they can take their seats immediately, rather than waiting till January for the new Congress to convene). In such cases special election turnout is much higher, relatively speaking: In the 20 cases of concurrent special and general elections that we analyzed, turnout in the special elections averaged just 4.2% below the concurrent general elections. In three instances, in fact, more people voted in the special election than in the concurrent general. (In only five of the non-concurrent special elections did turnout exceed the previous general election, which in each case featured a longtime incumbent who seldom if ever faced serious opposition).
Voter turnout in House special  | elections often much lower than  | general elections  | Special elections to the U.S. House as a share of  | votes cast in previous general election, 1987-2017  | 0- 60% higher  | elections  | Q- 24.9% lower  | 11  | 25- 49 9% lower  | 34  | 50- .74 9% lower  | 44  | 75%+ lower  | 16  | Note: Does not include 20 special elections held concurrently  | with a general election.  | Source: Pew Research Center analysis of election data from  | U.S House of Representatives state elections authorities,  | America Votes OurCampa iinns com.  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 