Election turnout up only slightly this year

Slightly more Indiana voters cast ballots in this year's midterm election than in the last one four years ago, but turnout fell short of expectations of a major surge in voter interest.

Unofficial tallies by The Associated Press show nearly 1.75 million votes cast for the U.S. Senate race won by Republican Dan Coats. That's about 1 percent more than the some 1.7 million Hoosiers who voted in the 2006 election. About 2.8 million voted in the 2008 presidential election.

Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita told WIBC-FM that more people took part in early voting, but the overall turnout figures show that making it more convenient to vote doesn't necessarily mean more people will participate in the process.