The First State may break midterm election turnout records on Tuesday.

Delaware has seen nearly 25,000 more people register to vote for the midterms than were registered for the 2016 presidential election. The 3.7 percent increase appears to be Delaware's highest spike this century.

"There has to be some residue of that extra percentage of registrants," said Samuel B. Hoff, George Washington distinguished professor of history and political science and law studies director at Delaware State University.

Last time the state saw a similar spike between a presidential and midterm election was ahead of the 2010 vote. In that two-year period, Delaware saw more than 21,000 new registered voters, a 3.6 percent increase.

Hoff attributed that increase to the Tea Party movement.

That midterm election came closest to having true 50 percent participation – 49.83 percent of Delaware's electorate voted in that midterm.

Adding to the excitement of the race, this time, have been get-out-the-vote campaigning by President Donald J. Trump and former President Barack Obama, who in recent weeks increased appearances urging people to go to the polls.

"The excitement level seems to be out there," Hoff said. "This year, things are back up there to the point where we could get to 50 percent and that would really be something that the citizens of the state could be proud that they reached that milestone, if we get to it."

He said weather could also determine how many people head to the polls.

While Tuesday's highs across Delaware are expected to be in the upper 60s to lower 70s, the National Weather Service is calling for heavy rain. Polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

Midterm interest

Midterm voter turnout is typically lower than presidential elections, not only in Delaware but across the country.

Elevated primary turnout levels nationally show Americans are unusually engaged with this year's midterms. A recent Pew Research Center survey found voter enthusiasm is at its highest level for any midterm election in more than two decades.

While turnout rates rose this year in both Democratic and Republican House primaries, the increase was greater on the Democratic side.

That’s consistent with the Center’s recent survey, which found that while voter enthusiasm is relatively high among voters in both major parties, it's somewhat higher among voters who favor Democratic candidates over Republican ones.

Two-thirds of Democratic voters (67 percent) say they are more enthusiastic about voting than in past congressional elections, compared with 59 percent of Republican voters.

Delaware Voters' Guide

Unlike in 2014, when 2.1 million more votes were cast in Republican than in Democratic House primaries, this year Democratic races drew more votes, 20.4 million versus 16.3 million.

That was nearly twice as many votes as the 10.7 million cast in 2014’s Democratic House primaries. One reason is there have been a lot more contested primaries on the Democratic side this year, and contested races tend to attract more voters.

Another sign there is unusual interest in this election are the number of younger voters expected.

Young people aren't typically considered a reliable voting bloc. They're transient, frequently changing addresses. They're busy with college and work. And often they're apathetic about politics – they worry their votes won't matter.

In the 2014 midterms, Generation Xers and millennials accounted for 53 percent of eligible voters, but cast just 36 million votes – 21 million fewer than the boomer, silent and greatest generations, according to USA Today.

In Delaware, Generation Xers and millennials accounted for 18 percent of registered voters in the 2014 midterms, but only 8 percent of these voters went to the polls, according to the Delaware Department of Elections.

Young voter turnout in midterm elections is often dismal. This year could be different

More employers are offering paid time off to vote this Election Day

Encouraging the votes

The 2018 midterms are happening against a backdrop of political and cultural divides. Activism on the left has surged nearly nonstop since Trump took office.

The day after Trump's inauguration, more than 3 million protesters convened in Washington, D.C., for the Women's March.

Perhaps the largest single day of protest in U.S. history took place across the country, including Newark where more than 1,000 men and women took to the streets on Trump's first full day as president.

Subsequent protests and marches surrounding immigration, climate change and gun violence have drawn large crowds. And the protests continued into this year.

In June, hundreds gathered in Wilmington, Milltown and Dover to protest migrant children being separated from their families. There were more than 750 such events held across the country that day.

It's all a recipe, some experts say, for youth turnout to finally make a difference.

John Della Volpe, director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, has been studying the youth vote since 2000. He compared today's environment with the political sentiment that followed 9/11, high emotions and a desire for action.

"I think now we have a moment that reminds me, from this perspective, of the post-9/11 moment, where politics matters to a new generation of young Americans who are considering voting for the first time," he told USA Today.

Today's young progressives want their politicians to address deep, structural inequalities, Della Volpe added. In general, they're more concerned about the health of American democracy and American capitalism than their parents are. They care about race, access to education, health care and climate change.

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Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.