VOTING AND ELECTIONS
It’s More Important Than Ever to Support Young Voters. Here’s How.
Back-to-school season is here, and as the election cycle heats up, it is critical to ensure that the next generation can participate in civic life.
Approximately four million Americans turn 18 every year. This means that eight million voters have become eligible to cast a ballot since the 2022 midterms. Additionally, the Gen Z voter bloc represents over one in five eligible voters, which equates to 50 million potential voters this fall. The sheer size and increasing diversity of young voters makes them perhaps the most important demographic in the 2024 elections.
This brief draws on findings from a recent Democracy Maps report explaining how a number of voting and election policies can improve voter access and empower the youth vote.
Voter Registration
Registration requirements and related processes can be confusing or an obstacle for young or first-time voters. Pre-registration is a policy that can alleviate these barriers by allowing eligible people as young as 16 to sign up to be automatically registered to vote once they turn 18. While this may seem like simply registering to vote earlier, this mechanism offers young voters a chance to become engaged in the election system and learn about voting processes before they become eligible.
Twenty states and D.C. allow pre-registration at age 16, and an additional four states allow pre-registration at age 17. Research shows that pre-registration results in higher voter turnout among young voters and is growing in popularity: from 2014 to 2020, the number of pre-registered young people more than doubled to nearly 1 million young voters.
Allowing voters to register on Election Day is an additional fail-safe, especially for young voters and others who move more frequently and may face challenges with registration as a result. Only 22 states allow voters to register on the same day they vote. Like pre-registration, same-day voter registration has been found to especially boost young voter turnout, even more so than among the general population.
Voter ID and Access to the Ballot
Young people can face challenges when attempting to attain ID documents due to having fewer resources, being less likely to drive, and in turn less likely to have a driver’s license. As a result, young voters can face difficulties satisfying state ID requirements when casting their ballot.
Most states ask voters to show some form of ID to vote. In the majority of states, voters must show some form of identification at the polls in order to cast their ballot. To date, 11 states have unnecessarily strict requirements where photo identification is required and if the voter does not have the required ID, they must undertake additional burdensome steps to have their vote counted. While most young voters could provide a student ID in place of a driver’s license, nine states explicitly do not allow a student ID to be used for voting, which includes several of the states with the most restrictive photo ID laws.
Studies show that these restrictive laws reduce turnout across the general population by as much as three percentage points, which would represent a difference of almost 1.5 million voters in the 11 states with strict voter ID laws. What’s more, three of the 11 states — Georgia, Ohio, and Wisconsin — are battleground states, and research also suggests these laws disproportionately and negatively impact young voters of color.
Alternatives to In-Person Voting
Once voter registration is established, an additional set of policies can be integral to securing access to the ballot, especially when a voter cannot be present in person on Election Day. Among these are options for mail voting and early voting availability.
In 36 states, voters can request an absentee ballot without having to provide a reason. This makes voter participation easier for young voters, among other voters who may not be able to make it to a polling place. According to recent research, in states with the most restrictive mail voting policies, youth turnout was as much as 15 percentage points lower.
Early voting periods increase the opportunities to cast a ballot, particularly among young voters, who often work unpredictable hourly jobs and may be forced to choose between wages and voting. In 2022, more than half of young voters cast their ballots before Election Day. Almost all states offer some form of early voting periods that are more than seven days, but the length of the early voting period varies widely. Only three states do not currently offer any form of early in-person voting.
Voter registration deadlines are quickly approaching for November elections, and important civic engagement efforts aimed at young people are happening in real time. The CIVICS Center, for example, provides voter education to high school students that are currently eligible to register or pre-register to vote. Their recent work has proved its success: new research shows that in New Hampshire, voter registration among 18-year-olds in the state nearly doubled from June 2022 to June 2023.
Fostering a new generation of lifelong voters can be achieved through a combination of pro-voter policies and voter education initiatives. Across the states, policymakers should continue to enact laws that optimize voter registration and guarantee access to the ballot — both in person and by mail. Only through a collective, sustained effort can young voters be supported and, in turn, build a healthier democracy.
▸▸ Learn more
- Read MAP’s 2024 report in partnership with the CIVICS Center: A Silenced Generation: How the Power of the Youth Vote Collides with Barriers to Voting.
- Visit the CIVICS Center for ways to get involved with high school voter registration drives and other civic engagement initiatives.
- Stay connected with Democracy Maps by subscribing to our newsletter and following our socials on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
