Young voters turn out in greater numbers
With the midterm elections days away, everyone is trying to predict who will vote. Older voters have been the most reliable voting block for decades with younger people being less inclined to vote in high percentages, especially in midterms. Since 2016 that has begun to change, but will it be true again this year?
In 2016 young voters (ages 18 to 29) made up a little less than 30% of the electorate, but they voted at lagging rates. After the 2016 election voting among this age group began to skyrocket. In the 2018 midterms, turnout increased from 20% in 2014 midterms to 36%. In 2020, a presidential year, young voter participation increased from 39% in 2016 to 50%. This voting power will only continue to grow as their numbers increase. Since the 2020 elections alone over 8 million young people, ages 18 to 19, have become eligible to vote and another 9 million will join this group of voters by 2024.
Increases in young voter turnout vary across the country by region. In the Southwest region, which comprises nine states including New Mexico and our neighboring states of Colorado and Arizona, there were increases of voting by young voters from 8% in New Mexico to 18% in Arizona.
A closer look at this reveals some key factors. First, election laws are different from state to state regarding automatic voter registration, vote by mail, absentee ballot distribution and access to voting through early vote, number of voting sites and locations, and more.
Colorado was a national leader with the highest rate of youth voter turnout in the Southwest at 63% in 2020. This is due in part because they have created easy access to voting including automatic voter registration, pre-registration, on-line registration and allowing teens to serve as poll workers. And the state election code supports registration in schools.
To the west, Arizona had the greatest increase in youth voter turnout between 2016 and 2020, from 33% to 51%. People of color make up 51% of the population under 30. Hotly contested races in 2020 were undoubtedly a motivator. However, the increase came even though Arizona doesn’t mail ballot applications automatically or conduct aggressive outreach to voters to vote by mail.
In 2020 New Mexico had the lowest youth voter turnout in the region at 39%. The good news is that was an 8% increase from 31% in 2016. New Mexico does have a long early vote period and a statute allowing teens to work the polls after age 16. And county clerks have the option of mailing absentee ballot applications to voters, which many do. The Secretary of State has made it possible to easily request an absentee ballot online, and she continues to work with the Legislature to implement state-of-the art registration opportunities and automatic voter registration.
In other good news, a recent American Ad Council survey found that 59% of young voters intend to vote in 2022 and call it their “civic duty.” They believe elections and Election Day create a moment for them to have their voices heard – win or lose.
My inside source to Gen Z, my 19-year-old granddaughter, helped me understand why young voters are voting this year. Young voters support reproductive freedoms. They want gun safety laws, action on climate change, and investment in public education.
Times are changing and so is the electorate. By 2024 there will be more Gen Z and millennial voters than those from the boomer generation and older. Will they vote in this year’s midterms? My granddaughter’s answer was this: “Why would we stop now, when we have the numbers to make a difference?”
I’m with her.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Young voters turn out in greater numbers
