Based on preliminary election returns, it appears the percentage of the vote in the November 2014 election for independent and minor party candidates, for the office at the top of the ballot, was 4.4%.
By contrast, in 2010 it was 5.4%; in 2006 it was 5.0%; in 2002, it was 5.3%; in 1998, it was 4.9%; in 1994, it was 4.5%; in 1990, it was 4.6%; in 1986 it was 3.6%. But in 1982, it was only 1.8%, and in 1978 and 1974 it was only 2.4%.
The chief reason the 2014 “other” vote for the office at the top of the ballot was lower than in recent past midterm elections is that California and Washington did not let voters cast an “other” vote in November 2014. California and Washington together comprise one-eighth of the nation.
In November 2010, California voters cast 539,645 votes for “other” candidates for Governor, but in November 2014, there were zero such votes, due to California’s having switched to the top-two system starting in 2011. Naturally, with such a drastic change in California, the national percentage for “other” was significantly lowered.
A note on methodology: These calculations exclude scattering write-in votes, and exclude votes for “None of these candidates” in Nevada. These calculations include votes cast on minor party lines for the top office to be “other” votes, even if the particular minor party cross-endorsed a major party nominee.
Top office on the ballot means Governor, for states that elect Governors in midterm years. For those that don’t, it means U.S. Senate. For the handful of states each year in which neither Governor nor U.S. Senate is up, it means the office actually at the top of the ballot.