Youth Voting

Youth voting typically refers to the voting trends of 18to 24-year-olds in the United States. Citizens as young as 18 years old were first able to vote in U.S. federal elections in 1972 following the ratification of the 26th amendment to the U.S. Constitution on July 1, 1971, which lowered the voting age in state and federal elections to 18 years old (the voting age was set at 21 years old in the original U.S. Constitution). Since that time, youth voting has been closely tracked.

Voting numbers indicate that the electoral participation of young people in the United States was highest in 1972, when they were first given the right to vote, and has declined in years since then. There are several ways to measure the number of young people who voted in elections. The most widely reported measure of youth voter turnout is calculated by the U.S. Census Bureau. This measure is an estimate of the number of young voters calculated from a Census Bureau survey conducted immediately following a general election. That number is then divided by an estimate of the number of young citizens of the United States. While the Census Bureau process for generating estimates of youth voting has been debated, the data are the most consistent with regard to methodology and its reported numbers are similar to other reports of youth voting. Since the U.S. Census Bureau has used consistent methodology for generating its reports, the trends for youth voting can be reported from 1972 to present. The U.S. Census Bureau reported voting estimates for presidential election years only. Additionally, there are few consistent reports of young voter turnout prior to 1972 (when the minimum voting age in federal elections was 21), which limits comparisons prior to this time.

Overall, voter turnout for 18to 24-year-olds in the United States has generally declined since 1972, with two exceptions, 1992 and 2004. In 1972, 52.1% of citizens aged 18 to 24 voted. The overall downward trend begins in 1976 with 44.4% turnout, followed by 43.4% turnout in 1980, 44.3% in 1984, and 39.9% in [Page 856]1988. Youth voting took a dramatic turn in 1992 increasing to 48.6% turnout, the highest turnout since 1972. However, the trend was short-lived when, in 1996, the lowest turnout was recorded at 35.6%, and low turnout continued in 2000 with 36.1%. Another increase was seen in 2004 with 46.7% turnout among 18to 24-year-olds. Given that the increase in young voter turnout in 1996 was for only one election cycle, many believe that the increase in 2004 will be just as short-lived.

However, more than 11.6 million American youth voted in the 2004 presidential election. Young voter turnout was at a 12-year high in the 2004 presidential election with a 46.7% turnout. The young voter demographic showed an 11% increase in voter turnout from 2000 to 2004—the largest increase of any age demographic during that time. Young voters also represented a larger share of the total votes cast in 2004 (9.3%) than in any of the previous 11 years. However, several reports leading up to the election indicated that approximately 80% of registered voters in this demographic intended to vote; therefore, the 46.7% young voter turnout on Election Day was extremely low when compared to the reported intent to vote.

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