Millennials now make up largest voting bloc, but the right to vote is mostly lost on them. Youth voters tend to have low turnout, and only 38 percent of those 18-24 voted in 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. About half, 49.5 percent, of those 25-44 voted.
Some of the 2016 state primaries have seen record turnout, though there has also been a slight decrease among young Democrats. Polls from Harvard IOP and USA Today/Rock the Vote show that young people are not very engaged in this presidential election. Most young people think “there are better ways to make a difference than voting,” according to the latter poll.
They don’t realize the issues matter to them, and are “not at a point in their life where politics or government actions seem relevant,” Rodd Freitag, professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, told the Chippewa Herald. The experiences older people have had “makes [them] more civically engaged.”
For those much younger, the election or issues aren’t exciting. John Kinville, an American government teacher at Chippewa Falls High School, has had to remind his students that elections are not normally exciting. “Young people get a bad rap for not knowing what’s going on. They are keeping up. Most of the young people voting have a very specific reason why they are voting,” Kinville told the Chippewa Herald.
Christopher Wyka, a North High School civics teacher in Eau Claire, encouraged parents to discuss politics with their children. “The kids don’t become interested in the process unless they know what the current issues are,” he said.
Other teachers have brought their students to campaign rallies, as those in upstate New York recently did. But such civics lessons ought to be more consistent and long-lasting, especially if civics education and voter turnout is to improve.
Freitag believes that college may make a difference in voter enthusiasm and turnout. College students are regarded as inconsistent voters by analysts though, and many still don’t educate themselves properly on the issues after high school, turning to social media or their friends, for instance.
Considering that a significant percentage of young people don’t vote, or don’t seem to educate themselves about the issues in the proper ways, they may deserve that “bad rap.” At least one young person has a strongly worded solution, with Alex Horn arguing for Columbia Spectator that “millennials shouldn’t vote.”
