Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Voter registration is up among young people compared to 2018

voter registration

Voter registration is up 6 percent from 2018 among those 18-24 years old.

Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

More young adults are registered to vote in key battleground states than in 2018, itself a record year – except among those newly eligible to cast a ballot.

That’s the conclusion drawn by researchers at the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement who analyzed voter registration data from 41 states.

“The 2018 election saw the highest youth turnout of any midterm in history. Given that registration numbers in most states, including many battleground states, are higher than this last historic midterm, it seems to be a positive sign for young people’s participation in the 2022 midterms,” said CIRCLE’e election coordinator, Ruby Belle Booth.


But it’s not all positive news.

“Unfortunately, the data also highlights work to be done in future elections to better engage new voters, especially the youngest eligible voters,” Booth said. “It also indicates the vast inequities that occur across states in effective youth voter engagement; that’s a problem for our democracy. So, while the data offers positive indicators for the 2022 midterms, it prescribes work to be done after November 9th as we prepare for 2024 and beyond.”

Overall, voter registration is up 6 percent from the last midterms among people ages 18-24. The biggest increases occurred in Michigan (up 38 percent), Kansas (29 percent) and Colorado (20 percent).

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Michigan is home to a tight gubernatorial race, where the Democratic incumbent, Gretchen Whitmer, has seen her once-commanding lead in the polls shrink to just 5 percentage points with a week remaining. The increase can be attributed, at least in part, to a pair of systems rolled out in 2019: online voter registration and automatic voter registration at motor vehicle agencies.

Similarly, Democrat Laura Kelly is locked in a tough battle to remain governor of Kansas.

While Kansas does not use the same voter registration tools as those other states, many people were motivated to register in advance of the summer’s primary, when an abortion measure was on the ballot.

“The increase in registrations in Kansas does suggest that the abortion ballot measure was mobilizing for young people and brought a lot of new young voters into the electorate,” said Booth. “Michigan and California both also show significant increases from 2018, and they both also have abortion on the ballot this November, which further supports the influence that abortion is having on young people’s registrations in this election cycle.”

However, Booth believes there is more at play than just a single issue motivating people.

“Kansas’s registration numbers have continued to rise since the primary in August, which highlights that young people are engaged beyond just the abortion issue. Our Youth Electoral Significant Index ranks the Kansas gubernatorial race as the third top gubernatorial race where young people could have a major impact on the outcome if they turnout; it looks like young people in Kansas may be paying close attention to that race as well.”

The Democratic candidates have more comfortable leads in both the governor and Senate races in Colorado, which also offers online and automatic voter registration.

Nevada also saw a big jump, with voter registration up 18 percent among the youngest voters. That state is home to both Senate and gubernatorial contests that are neck-and-neck going into the final week of election season.

In fact, registrations are up in more than half (23 of 41) of the states for which data was available. The biggest decline occurred in South Dakota, which dropped 36 percent, followed by Rhode Island and Kentucky (both down 17 percent).

“Different states have different problems engaging young people; elements that vary across states like facilitative voter laws, civic education, or infrastructure supporting young people’s democratic participation all could be to blame in different states,” Booth said. “But looking at the data as a whole, we see a failure to register new young voters compared to 2018. This can especially be seen in the data among 18-19 year olds.”

In fact, while most states saw an overall increase, the number of 18- and 19-year-olds registering declined 5 percent and only 13 states were in positive territory compared to 2018.

There was a huge organizing push in both 2018 and 2020 that paid dividends in registration and turnout numbers for those elections. The 18-24 registration data reflects the efforts in 2018 and 2020 since that age group was targeted for those elections, while the 18-19 data offers a clearer look at some of the shortcomings this year and the opportunity that exists to better engage young voters in future elections,” Booth said. “While there were absolutely a lot of individuals and organizations, many led by young people themselves, working hard to prepare young voters for the 2022 midterms, the data suggests that efforts to reach out to new young voters weren’t as robust as in 2018.

Idaho led the way with an 81 percent increase, followed by Michigan (52 percent) and Kansas (42 percent). Booth pointed to a few reasons for that massive increase.

"First, Idaho is one of the fastest growing states in the country. Second, it had a hotly contested, high-turnout primary election in May that bolstered registration across all ages. Third, because Idaho is a less populous state, it [can have] bigger percentage increases that reflect a smaller number of new registrants. … Fourth, it is another state where abortion has been at the center of political discourse, which maybe could have had an impact. And lastly, there may have been some good efforts on the ground to get young people registered, but we don’t know much details about what those may have been or their impact,” Booth said.

The CIRCLE research notes that the 2018 election featured the highest turnout among young voters since the voting age was lowered to 18, so this year’s data is being measured against historic numbers.

More young women than men have registered to vote in 2022 (53 percent of the new registrants are women). Previous cycles were more closely divided, according to the researchers.

Read the full report.

Read More

Trump to the Nation: "We're Just Getting Started"

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump is speaking about the early achievements of his presidency and his upcoming legislative agenda.

(Photo by Mandel Ngan-Pool/Getty Images)

Trump to the Nation: "We're Just Getting Started"

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress, emphasizing that his administration is “just getting started” in the wake of a contentious beginning to his second term. Significant themes, including substantial cuts to the federal workforce, shifts in traditional American alliances, and the impact of an escalating trade war on markets, characterized his address.

In his speech, Trump highlighted his actions over the past six weeks, claiming to have signed nearly 100 executive orders and taken over 400 executive actions to restore “common sense, safety, optimism, and wealth” across the country. He articulated that the electorate entrusted him with the leadership role and stressed that he was fulfilling that mandate.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump’s Tariffs: a burden on workers, a boon for the wealthy

An illustration of a deconstructed dollar bill.

Getty Images, rob dobi

Trump’s Tariffs: a burden on workers, a boon for the wealthy

Earlier this year, President Trump imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, claiming they would fix trade imbalances and protect jobs. However, instead of helping American workers, these tariffs act as hidden taxes; they drive up costs and feed inflation. While average Americans bear the brunt of higher prices and lost jobs, the wealthy are insulated from the worst effects.

Many economists assert that tariffs are stealth taxes, that is, the burden is not distributed equally—while corporations may adjust by diversifying suppliers or passing costs along, working households cannot escape higher prices on essential goods like groceries and electronics. Analysts estimate these tariffs could add $1,250 to the annual cost of living for the average American household—a substantial burden for families already struggling with inflation. Additionally, according to the well-regarded Tax Foundation, the tariffs are projected to reduce GDP by 0.5% and result in the loss of approximately 292,000 jobs.

Keep ReadingShow less
Veterans diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases should apply for compensation

An individual applying for a program online.

Getty Images, Inti St Clair

Veterans diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases should apply for compensation

In 1922, the U.S. Navy identified asbestos as the most efficient material for shipbuilding insulation and equipment production due to its heat resistance and durability. The naturally occurring asbestos mineral was also the most abundant and cost-effective material on the market. During the difficult WWII years, asbestos became critical to the U.S. Military, especially for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force: shipping and shipbuilding were essential, and parts of the military aircraft and incendiary bombs also contained asbestos.

Even as demand exceeded supply, in 1942, a presidential order banned the use of asbestos for non-military purposes until 1945. The application of asbestos-based material by the Military continued to increase until the 1970s when its carcinogenic nature came to light, and the use of asbestos started to be regulated but not banned.

Keep ReadingShow less
S.E. Cupp: Where is the Democratic Party’s Ronald Reagan?

President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump arrive for the inauguration ceremony in the U.S. Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025.

Getty Images/TCA, Melina Mara/POOL/AFP

S.E. Cupp: Where is the Democratic Party’s Ronald Reagan?

With all the attention deservedly on President Trump and what he intends to do with his defiant return to the White House, there’s a more than good chance we’ll spend the next four years consumed once again by all things Trump.

There’s already been a dizzying amount: a giant raft of executive orders; attacks on a constitutional amendment; his threats to invade sovereign nations; a seeming Nazi salute from one of his biggest surrogates; his sweeping Jan. 6 pardons; his beef with a bishop; his TikTok flip-flop; his billion-dollar meme coin controversy; scathing new allegations against one of his Cabinet picks; unilaterally renaming a body of water; a federal crackdown on DEI; promises of immigration raids across major cities. All this in just the first three days of Trump’s second term.

Keep ReadingShow less