2020 Election Recap: Youth Voter Turnout High But Engagement Still Needed
Last week the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, or CIRCLE, published their report on youth voter engagement in the 2020 election. While we saw a likely historic level of youth voter turnout, a closer look suggests needed improvements in electoral administration and outreach.
The reports major findings include:
Where the pandemic showed a massive shift to mail-in-voting, the tremendous effect to make this voting method more accessible was successful.
All young voters did not have an equally smooth experience with mail-in voting.
The youngest eligible voters (ages 18-19) were more likely to say they had challenges with mail in voting.
Among young people who didn’t register to vote, over 40% attributed this to not knowing how, running out of time, or trouble with the application.
Visit CIRCLE to read the full analysis. There is no question that young voters impact elections through the vote, but the 2020 election also highlighted the impact of youth organizing and outreach that shaped elections at the national, state and local level. Where there is more work to do to engage urban and rural youth voters, and across demographics, we must continue to explore how the concept of civic deserts and lack of robust civic education in schools has a role to play in limiting the engagement of young voters.