Trump Wasn't on the Ballot, but 6 in 10 Voters Disapprove of His Job Handling

Trump wasn't on the ballot this midterm election, yet plenty of voters had him on their minds. According to the AP Voter Poll, roughly 6 in 10 of those surveyed say they disapprove of how he's handling the presidency. That's a heavy number attached to a man voters couldn't actually vote for or against.

The AP Voter Poll is an expansive survey of the electorate, and AP's Joshua Boak walked through the key takeaways from it. The poll's central signal is voter sentiment toward Trump, whose presence loomed over races up and down the ballot even without his name on them.

Midterm elections are routinely read as a referendum on the sitting president, and this one appears to fit the pattern. While Trump was not a candidate, the survey suggests many voters treated his performance as a factor in their decisions. Disapproval at that level is a notable data point for a president watching results roll in from the sidelines.

That's where the story stands: a president absent from the ballot, present in the vote. The AP Voter Poll offers a snapshot of an electorate with Trump very much on its mind.