Imagine... You're Turning 18 Before The 2016 Election... What Party Do You Choose, And Why ???

[hay rick]

37. I have real numbers from my area. You're going to hate them.

I live in SE Florida. My area has a lot of retirees and trends Republican. There are 329,735 voters in the area for which I have detailed information.. The overall registration mix is 40% R, 33% D, and 27% other. In the 2014 election, 56% of ALL voters voted. These numbers provide context for registration and voter participation rates of younger voters.

12,806 voters in the same area are between 18 and 22 and were eligible to vote in 2014. The numbers offer a little bit of good news and a whole lot of bad news. The good news- the Republican registration advantage shrinks in this group: 28.6% R, 27.8% D, and 43.7% other. The really bad news- they don't vote. Remember, the standard of comparison (all voters) is 56%. For this age group, the participation rate was 23.5%. Among those who registered neither D or R, the voting rate was 18.8%.

This generation is disenfranchising itself and the results are bound to be ugly. There is also opportunity here but it is currently buried under a mountain of inertia.