Once young people vote, they are likely to become voters for life, according to Heather Smith, president of Rock the Vote. “There is something special about casting a vote in person, something powerful in person,” she said at a teleconference organized by New America Media.
New barriers block young people from starting to vote, she said, and her group works to remove the barriers. Members of the millennial generation want to participate in democracy, but many do not have the most basic knowledge. It is not that they are uninterested or foolish, but it is that no one has taught them, according to Smith.
“We should be celebrating the attitudes of this millennial generation, that they do want to be involved in civic life,” said Smith.
Yet many potential young voters do not know, for example, that there are deadlines to register to vote before an election. Many are unaware of their state’s voter ID requirements.
Others might register to vote at home, then show up to vote at college, and be surprised not to be on the rolls. Not everyone knows that you must register where you plan to vote.
“There’s a lot of confusion over whether they can vote on campus or at home,” Smith said. Students have a constitutional right to choose where to register.
It all should be taught, said Smith, but “we need better civic education in our schools. Civic education and funding has been cut in 20 states.”
Conventional wisdom says that the election of 2008 caused a jump in youth voting, but it was only part of an overall trend. Smith said the largest increase of young people voting came between 2000 and 2004. The 2000 turnout was 30 percent, and 2008 was 51 percent.
According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University, after a dip in the late 1990s, voting rates have steadily risen for young people, with big differences between different subsets. Those with no college experience are far less likely to vote than those with college experience, for example.
Young voters are important. The CIRCLE reported that 46 million people between ages 18 and 29 make up 24 percent of the eligible voter population.
“This generation under 30 is the largest American generation in history,” Smith said, adding that they are also “the most diverse in history.” Whether they vote or not “matters for the direction of our country.”
The CIRCLE found that young people who register vote in high numbers, over 80 percent, and young people who are contacted in person by a peer are more likely to register.
Some of the recent voter ID laws and other new voter laws may create barriers for young potential voters. Florida forbade groups from registering college students on campus, until it lost a lawsuit over the restriction.
Today’s youth may just need a little assistance. “We should be helping, modernizing, making it easier for a 21st-century person to register,” Smith said.
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