Voter turnout low among youth ages 18-24

By Torin Hough ‘24

Young voters aged 18-24 make up about 12% of the voting-age population but much less of the vote. The cohort has the lowest voter turnout of all age groups. Only 43% of youth voters voted in the last presidential election, and past numbers are even lower. 

“[It] is very much a systemic issue,” Josephine Cureton, a freshman at Yale University, said in an email interview. “There’s so much that needs to be done.”

Image by Torin Hough.

Among youth voters, women have a much higher voter turnout than men. In 2016, 40% of men aged 18-24 voted, compared with 46% of women of the same age group.

Youth voters with more education are also more likely to vote. Those with at least some college education had 45% or greater voter turnout, and those with a Bachelor’s degree voted over 60% of the time in 2016.

This year, however, more young voters may be voting. A recent Harvard Youth Poll shows that, among 18-29 year olds, 63% said they were definitely going to vote. For reference, only 47% of those aged 18-29 indicated the same thing in 2016.

There are many nation-wide organizations working on getting out the youth vote, such as Youth Voter Movement and Rock the Vote. There are also smaller, more localized, efforts, like when college students set up tables on campus to assist others in registering to vote. Celeste Coler, a sophomore at Claremont McKenna College, thinks that this is “a great method of outreach.”

“Students are more incentivized to vote if they see their peers are passionate about voting and voter turnout,” said Coler in an email. “The people around me have made it their mission to hold their peers accountable to vote.”