Flickr photo by Dean Terry
Preliminary evidence suggests that voting turnout among all Americans was up in the November 2010 election. Compared with the last non-presidential election (2006), both voting turnout experts (Curtis Gans and Michael McDonald) agree that turnout among eligible voters rose 1.1-1.2 percentage points (based on preliminary estimates that will obviously change as all ballots are counted and certified). Regardless of whether one likes the outcome in 2010, it is civic good news that more Americans got involved.
Preliminary evidence suggests electoral turnout rose in at least nine states, and significantly in Texas, Florida and Minnesota. Ohio and Pennsylvania, among other states, seems to have experienced a turnout decline. [Curtis Gans projects voting turnout at 42 percent of registered voters; Michael McDonald believes that 41.5% of voting-eligible Americans turned out to vote.] Note: McDonald has now lowered his turnout estimate 1.2 percentage points to 40.3% (VEP Highest Office Turnout, as of 11/8/10).
But the bad news is what voices are being heard or not heard. Voting turnout rates were down among young voters (18-29) and blacks made up a lower percentage of voters in 2010 than in 2008 when Obama’s candidacy excited African-Americans to vote. For example, blacks made up 12% of voters in 2008 and appeared to make up just 10% of voters in 2010 (based on exit polls). This drop, if it holds up in more authoritative numbers like the Current Population Survey would negate this encouraging finding reported in 2008 that the black-white voting gap had disappeared. [Exit polls suggest that Hispanics maintained their share of the electorate, rising from 7% in 2008 to 8% in 2010, although one would have to compare this rise against their expanding voting-eligible numbers to truly understand whether their political voice was diluted, and if so, how much.] It wasn’t a simple story of the richest folks’ accounting for more of the votes, since those earning $100,000 or more accounted for 26% of the votes in both 2008 and 2010, but due to the elimination of restrictions on corporate campaign contributions in the wake of the 2010 Citizens United case, the wealthy disproportionately had chances to influence election outcomes even before voters got to their polling places.
Social Capital Blog 
Black voter turnout was generally low in 2010 because there was no national party candidate like Barack Obama. In some places like Massachusetts where there was an African-American high-visibility candidate on the line (Deval Patrick running for re-election as Governor), a GOTV (get out the vote) effort was able to drive high numbers of African-Americans to the polls.
As to why youth didn’t vote, it’s less clear. Some claim (like Washington Post) that youth didn’t see enough “hope and change” since 2008. This despite efforts last month by President Obama to rally college youth and stoke the 2008 fervor and despite appeals from Jon Stewart in his recent Rally to Restore Sanity. Heather Smith, president of Rock the Vote which tries to drive young people to vote, claimed it was “a leadership gap” from candidates who failed to craft messages to appeal to young voters and that young voters were alienated by attack ads.