• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, October 24, 2018

Interest in the midterm elections this year has soared. U.S. residents will vote on November 6 in the midterm elections -- less than two weeks away -- and they are arming themselves with information found on Google and Bing search engines.

Data from iQuanti released Wednesday found that searches for the keyword phrase “where can I vote” in 2018 rose in August and September compared with 2016. In August 2018, searches reached 4,400 compared with 1,300 in August 2016. Searches reached 3,600 in September 2018 for the same phrase, up from 2,400 in September 2016.

Voters also wanted to know “how do I register to vote” and the hours of operation and the location of their polling place, as searches for “closest polling place,” “what time do polls open?” and “what time do polls close?” were all up between July and September 2018. 

Searches reached 8,100 for the three queries related to the proximity and hours of operation in August 2018 before dropping to 2,400 in September 2018 -- compared with the 1,000 total number of searches in August 2016, and 480 in September 2016.

The search term “can I vote” also rose to 4,400 in September 2018, from 1,900 in August 2018 -- but not as high as in September 2016, when it saw searches skyrocket to 54,000 from 1,900 in August 2016.

Searches for “election results” reached their peak in August 2018 at 368,000, up from 40,500 in August 2016.

Meanwhile, U.S. voters seem to have made up their minds about who to vote for. The phrase “who to vote for” rose to 4,400 searches in September 2018 compared with 2,400 in August 2018 -- not quite as high as in September 2016, when searches jumped to 6,600 --  up from 2,900 in August 2016.

Other data suggests similar patterns. A new Wall Street Journal and NBC poll released last weekend that also found interest in the midterm election surged, along with President Trump’s approval rating, and a continued preference for Democrats to control Congress.