Our Future Depends on Next-Generation Voters

[Donkees]

This year, young people make up one in three of all eligible U.S. voters. Voter mobilization groups hope to channel their concerns into votes, especially in the battleground states.

11/1/2022 by CRISTINA TZINTZÚN RAMIREZ

Excerpts:

“Why don’t young people vote?” That’s one question I’m asked all the time as the president of NextGen America, the largest youth voter organization in the country. People always want to know: “Why are young people so apathetic?” But those questions are based solely on misconceptions and outdated information.

Younger voters are showing up like never before, increasing their participation at a greater rate than any other age group. Between the presidential elections of 2016 and 2020, voters aged 18 to 29 saw an 11 percent increase in participation. The change in midterm elections has been even more dramatic—in 2014, only 21 percent of this age cohort voted, but in 2018, that percentage doubled to 42 percent.

Polling also consistently shows that, across gender and race, young voters are progressive voters. They skew Democratic, although those who identify as independent are almost as large. The Republican Party, with its attacks on everything these younger citizens value, lags far behind. However, NextGen America doesn’t pin its hopes on any specific party or politician, but rather on the young people themselves, to ameliorate the greatest problems that assail our national health.

In 2020, NextGen ultimately reached more than 10.5 million young voters—contacting one in every seven eligible young voters and mobilizing one in every nine who actually cast a ballot. Of the young people registered by NextGen, 73 percent turned out to vote—compared to 60 percent of young registrants overall.

This year, young people make up one in three of all eligible U.S. voters, and NextGen is helping to channel their concerns into votes with concentrated outreach across eight key battleground states.

https://msmagazine.com/2022/11/01/young-gen-z-voters-midterms/

[CrispyQ]

1. I've voted every election since I was old enough to vote.

Most of my adult life I was one of the few of my peers who voted every election. I have friends who have to hound their adult children to vote. WTF? Who has more at stake in the future than young people?

[ffr]

3. +1 GREAT ADVICE!!!!

[ffr]

2. Someone needs to point out to these young voters that voting isn't like a quiz

You don't have to answer every response. Voting for candidates and propositions is a choice. Put into it what you feel you want to get out of it, i.e. if you don't know the propositions or candidates and don't have the time to get to know all that is necessary to make an informed opinion, that's normal. Don't stress about it. Do the best you can. Ask friends and family. And if that's not possible, just vote a straight democratic ticket and leave out the NP candidates.

Just Vote! You'll see it's actually quite fun, when you can do it on your own terms. And once you start, it's hard to stop.

[Donkees]

5. Examples of Student Voting Barriers by State

The following are a few examples of legal and administrative challenges faced by young people as they try to exercise their right to vote.

Michigan Student Voters Win Voter ID Case
In 2019, would-be student voters won concessions from the State of Michigan that will make it easier for the state's almost 600,000 students to vote.

Michigan has strict voting laws that require a potential voter to have only one address. Students may have more than one address – a school address and a parent's home address, for example. Furthermore, students tend to be a mobile population. They may move from dorms to apartments or dorms to dorms, so the “one address" law hit this population particularly hard.

Michigan also disallowed online voter registration, early voting, and (except in very limited situations) absentee ballots, all of which would have allowed college student voters to identify if they were going to have a problem voting.

Instead, young people would show up at the polls and be turned away because their voter registration address (at the college) did not match their driver's license address (at home).

https://www.findlaw.com/voting/how-do-i-protect-my-right-to-vote-/voter-suppression-and-college-students.html

[I_UndergroundPanther]

4. Voted dem everytime since

I was able to vote. So did my mom and grandma. Grandma Ruth loved Hillary.
I still have a pic of her holding her new Hillary bumper sticker. If I can find it I will post it.