2016 will likely be a record-breaking year for youth voter turnout — fueled by an increase in young Republicans voting this year.
Now that the primaries are officially over, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) crunched the numbers and found that more young people (ages 17-29) participated in the primary process this election cycle than in 2008.
In 17 out of the 24 states for which data for both years was available, the percentage of young voters who cast a ballot in 2016 was equal to or greater than 2008 numbers.
States that saw the biggest uptick in youth turnout this year were Michigan (where the rate almost doubled, going from 14% in 2008 to 27% in 2016), North Carolina (15% to 24%), Illinois (18% to 26%), Missouri (21% to 27%), and Wisconsin (25% to 33%).
A few states remained exactly the same in 2008 and 2016. For example, New Hampshire had the highest youth turnout rate both years at 43 percent, and Nevada had the lowest youth turnout both years at 5 percent.
In the seven states where youth participation decreased (Iowa, South Carolina, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas, and Ohio), the turnout rate dropped by just 3 percent or less.
According to CIRCLE, the increase in overall youth voting this year was largely due to higher participation on the Republican side.
“In every single one of the 21 states for which we can make the comparison, as many or more youth votes were cast in the 2016 Republican primaries or caucuses than in the 2008 contests,” the report said.
The number of young Republican voters nearly tripled in Mississippi and Nebraska. In Alabama, 111,000 young Republicans voted this year compared to just 14,000 who voted in 2008.
However, on the Democratic side, most states saw a decrease from the historically high youth turnout inspired by President Obama in 2008.
“In 14 of the 24 states for which we have comparable data, fewer young people cast ballots in 2016 than in the 2008 Democratic contests,” the report said.
These numbers are surprising considering the enthusiasm Bernie Sanders inspired among young voters this year. It seems that although young people did favor Sanders over Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, he failed to inspire the same high turnout that Obama did.
Clinton likely benefitted from the young people who stayed home; she won swing state primaries in Ohio and Pennsylvania, where the ranks of young Democrat voters have plunged since 2008.
However, despite the drop in Democrat turnout, and the increase in GOP turnout, young Democrats still outnumbered young Republicans at the polls this year.
Young Democrats cast more votes in 18 out of the 26 state primaries for which data was available.
