Next week is the monthly Conversation on Community-Engaged Scholarship, and we will be talking about what works in increasing voter turn-out among college students. To warm us up, here is a fact sheet on Youth Voting from our colleagues at the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRLCE). https://civicyouth.org/quick-facts/youth-voting/
What Affects Youth Voting:
- Contact! Young people who are contacted by an organization or a campaign are more likely to vote. Additionally, those who discuss an election are more likely to vote in it.
- Young people who are registered to vote turn out in high numbers, very close to the rate of older voters. In the 2008 election, 84% of those youth 18-29 who were registered to vote actually cast a ballot. Youth voter registration rates are much lower than older age groups’ rates, and as a result, guiding youth through the registration process is one potential step to closing the age-related voting gap.
- Having information about how, when and where to vote can help young people be and feel prepared to vote as well as reduce any level of intimidation they may feel.
- A state’s laws related to voter registration and voting can have an impact on youth voter turnout. Seven out of the top 10 youth turnout states had some of the more ambitious measures, including Election Day registration, voting by mail (Oregon), or not requiring registration to vote (North Dakota).
