![]() Many other factors correlate with youth voting and can lead to or manifest inequities in civic and political engagement. Read moreĭifferences by Age, State, Urban/Rural, etc. Our research has found that young people without college experience can be disproportionately impacted by barriers to voting, while youth who are in college are more likely to be contacted by political organizations and campaigns. Youth without college experience also tend to vote at lower rates than young people in college: for example, in 2020, we estimate that 50% of youth (ages 18-29) voted, while our colleagues at the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education estimate that 66% of college students (albeit of all ages) cast a ballot. But stubborn voting gaps by race/ethnicity remain an impediment to the pursuit of an equitable multiracial democracy. More recently, Asian and Latino youth have increased their voter turnout. Historically, white youth have voted at a higher rate than young people of color-though Black youth voter participation matched or exceeded that of white youth in several presidential elections. ![]() Young women have voted at a higher rate than young men in recent election cycles part of a broader trend of higher civic engagement among young women. In particular, some communities of color and youth from other historically oppressed groups are more likely to face barriers to voting and other forms of civic participation. What often receives less attention is that they also influence whether youth register and vote. It's well-understood that the identities, background, and experiences (such as race/ethnicity, gender, and educational attainment) of young people often correlate with their vote choice, a pattern that is common across all age groups. Insights from CIRCLE's 2020 election polling.Tracking youth voter participation and impact in 2022.This highlights that lower youth voting rates are not a sign of generational apathy, but of systemic barriers and issues with the culture of political engagement that have plagued young people of various generations for decades. Our analysis has found that, for the first presidential election in which a generation's entire 18-24 age cohort was eligible to vote (1972 for Boomers, 1992 for Gen X, 2008 for Millennials), each participated at about a 50% rate. While it's true that young people generally vote at lower levels than older adults, those from older generations voted at similar rates than today's Millennial and Gen Z youth when they were at the same age. In 2018, youth supported House Democrats by an extraordinary 35-point margin, and in 2020 by 26 points. The last two Democratic presidential candidates (Clinton and Biden) won the youth vote by 18 and 25 percentage points, respectively. Bush won the youth vote on his way to winning the presidency, and as recently as 2002 the national youth vote choice for House candidates was roughly 50-50. In decades past, young people split their votes somewhat evenly between Democrats and Republicans: as recently as 1988, Republican George H.W. There has been a consequential shift in youth vote choice. In 2020, we estimate that 50% of young people cast a ballot, one of the highest youth turnout rates in decades. In 2018, a record-high 28% of young people voted in the midterms, more than doubling the record-low 13% youth turnout in 2014. While youth continue to vote at lower rates than older Americans, recent election cycles have provided reasons for optimism-and shown that candidates and campaigns ignore young people at their peril. Thus, broadening youth voting is one of the vital tasks in strengthening democracy. At the same time, we miss an opportunity to improve our communities and the systems that develop informed and passionate civic actors by not actively addressing structural barriers to civic learning and opportunities. ![]() When certain groups have more say in what happens in their communities and the nation, we fall short of the premise of our democracy. That may be starting to change: as you can read below, 20 saw major increases in youth voter turnout. However, there's still much work to do. Our research consistently indicates that the preparation many young people receive (or fail to receive) to become informed voters is inadequate, leading to significant variations in voting rates by race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and other socioeconomic and demographic factors. Historically, young people have voted at lower rates than older adults. While it’s just one of many ways forms that youth engagement can take, it is a powerful way for young people to make their voices heard and to have an impact on issues that affect them and their communities it can also serve as an entry point to other forms of participation. Voting is a fundamental act of civic participation through which young people contribute to democracy.
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