Young Voters - 2018

For the last 30+ years, voter turnout has always shown to be very low among people who are 18-29 years of age. This is true for both the presidential and midterm elections.  For example, the highest rate of voter turnout among this voting segment was in 1986 and 1994 where the turnout was only 21%.  However, in 2018 midterm elections, many believe that voter turnout among 18-29 year olds will be historically high resulting in the Republicans potentially loosing control of The House of Representatives.

During midterm elections less people, in general, participate in voting compared to the number of people who vote during presidential elections. The last midterm elections that took place in 2014, only about 21% of 18-29 year olds came out to vote. This year, a poll conducted by the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, recorded an increase of young voters up to 40% stating that they will vote in the midterms.

Currently, the Republican Party holds control of both chambers of Congress. However, due to the expected increase in youth voter turnout, Republicans are not likely to hold onto the House of Representatives.  In the aforementioned Harvard Kennedy poll, significantly more young Democrats (54%) than young Republicans (43%) indicated they were likely to vote. According to the poll "66% of respondents supported Democrats taking back control of Congress, compared to 32% for Republican control."

Lastly, increased gun violence has resulted in significantly higher levels of social activism.  As a result, voter registration among younger voters has increased to record levels: approximately 800,000 young voters registered to vote on National Voter Registration Day in September.