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The Youth Vote
Truth, Lies, and the Questions in Between
“Old enough to fight, old enough to vote!”
The 1972 presidential election was the first in which 18-year-olds were allowed to vote. Calls to lower the voting age from 21 had been made since WWII, when the draft age dropped to 18. But demands reached a fever pitch during the Vietnam War when so many American boys were being drafted and sent to fight a war that they had no ability to vote against. By then, Americans were so convinced of the unfairness of the 21-age requirement, it only took 100 days for the necessary number of states to ratify the 26th Amendment.
In 1972, 55 percent of newly enfranchised 18 to 21-year-olds voted. This new crop of voters ended up not being the factor expected in the presidential race—they basically divided evenly between Nixon and his Democratic opponent George McGovern. They did, however, have considerable impact on congressional races and for younger candidates—like 29-year-old Joe Biden, who won his Senate seat over a longstanding Republican incumbent even as Nixon swept Biden’s state of Delaware by a whopping 60 precent.
That’s the highest turnout the youth vote has ever mustered. In most elections since 1972, only a minority have exercised their fundamental and crucial right. One notable exception: 2020, when 50 precent of 18 to 29-year-olds voted, an eleven-point jump from the 39 percent casting ballots in 2016. Sadly, participation in midterm elections by this age group remains abysmally low—only 23 percent in 2022, even as an issue that age group lists as being critical to them—reproductive autonomy—was essentially on the ballot in many states.
Sociologists and political scientists attribute their lackluster voting to disillusionment with our system, a cynical belief that their votes or actions won’t make a difference. A what-does-it-matter attitude that historians note, with some alarm, has contributed to other democracies sliding into authoritarian regimes. Social media hasn’t helped—with its only-so-factual info-stream and disinformation and the pop-culture idea that tweeting or liking a post is as good as voting. Also, post-COVID, more than half of American youth report suffering anxiety, depression, loneliness, and a lack of confidence—an ennui that makes them far less likely or able to push themselves into a social/community activity like voting.
Those are big societal issues that need thoughtful addressing over multiple years. But there are also procedural changes we could implement more quickly that positively affect voting numbers.
For example, Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) has found that turnout increases 10 percent when young people are allowed to pre-register before they turn 18—automatically on the books to cast a ballot come that all-important birthday. (Nearly half our states allow this, even as young as 16.) There’s a similar uptick when youth can register online and when states allow college student IDs as proof of residency. (Something conservative-leaning states are working hard to restrict.)
Today, Gen Zers (18 to 27-year-olds) make up nearly one fifth of the American electorate. Add in the youngest Millennials, and that 18 to 34 voting block could be an enormous political force. (Gen Zers: please see the For College and High School Students section below for more of what you can do to register yourself and your peers.)
But only if they actually vote. And the trick seems to be getting them registered. Every year, about 4 million Americans turn 18. Fewer than 30 percent register. But when they do, three out of four vote.
With that in mind, high schools seem to be the best place for getting young people information and registered to participate in their democracy. And the most equitable since 40 percent of Americans do not go on to attend college.
During the recent 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, President Biden spoke at the LBJ Library and described how pivotal his favorite professor had been in his decision to run for the Senate. When the president asked if he should go for it, his professor answered by quoting Plato, saying, as Biden remembers it: “Joe, the penalty good people pay for not being involved in politics is being governed by persons worse than themselves.” (Biden softened the literal translation of the ancient Greek word “idiots.”)
Dear EDUCATORS: I know we ask so much of you, all the time. But research shows that positive school environments—where students feel their opinions and voice are respected and heard AND which offer students civic activities and discussion in addition to curricular government classes—vastly increase our youth’s sense of agency and lifelong participation in our democracy process. Registration drives seem particularly potent in that quest.
The good news: there are several wonderful institutions providing all the research-proven lesson plans and tool kits that a school would need to do this:
Tuft’s CIRCLE provides in-depth, long-term research and insight about youth and how they do or don’t become involved, plus many engaging classroom activities to encourage young voters and future civic leaders: https://circle.tufts.edu/explore-our-data/youth-voting-and-civic-engagement-america/take-action#k-12-civic-education
The Civics Center started and runs a High School Voter Registration Week . There are two annually. In fall 2024 the dates are September 23rd through 27th. This link: https://www.thecivicscenter.org/educator-forum provides free virtual training on how to embed youth voter registration and education into high school curriculum. They also offer virtual workshops, action kits, and sharable graphics and handouts for students to run their own registration drives.
The Anti-Defamation League (in conjunction with PBS’ SRL) offers these lesson plans:
https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/voting-rights-and-the-youth-vote.pdf
https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/elections-and-the-youth-vote.pdf
FOR 1ST TIME VOTERS: COLLEGE & HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS:
There are now a dozen organizations run by and for you, in addition to the ones above that coordinate with your schools.
One of the best organized and funded is Voters of Tomorrow, recently profiled in a New Yorker magazine article. It was founded in 2019 by a high school senior involved in March for Our Lives , gaining national attention with a "Prom at the Polls" invitation to students who'd missed their senior proms because of COVID to post celebratory prom-night-like photos of themselves dressed up and voting in 2020. Thousands of teens and 20-somethings responded--AND registered.
Today V.O.T. lobbies Congress on issues most concerning Gen Zers, has hosted how-to summits about political organizing, has pushed elected officials to become "Youth Vote Champions" to actively engage this voting block with youth-oriented campaign events and conversation about the importance of voting and civic participation, AND registered thousands of brand new voters. To learn more both about their registration drives on college campuses and how to vote individually: https://votersoftomorrow.org/vote/
New Voters (a student-run nonpartisan nonprofit that empowers high schoolers to host civic-engagement campaigns) will send high schoolers a kit for running a registration drive: https://www.new-voters.org/students
https://www.vote411.org/ and Rock the Vote
Teen Vogue (for general discussion and guidance):
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/2024-election-how-to-get-involved-students
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-to-vote-first-time
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/teen-vogue-lesson-plan
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/college-voter-survival-guide-long-lines-campus-polling-places
