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Tom Lopach

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    Voting

    Don't take young people for granted in November

    Dakota Hall
    Tom Lopach
    September 23, 2022
    young voter

    Young adults, like Emma Parker of Denver, can be a formidable voting bloc this year.

    Marc Piscotty/Getty Images

    Hall is executive director at the Alliance for Youth Action. Lopach is the president and CEO of the Voter Participation Center.

    During the 2018 midterm election, young people turned out and shattered records to make their voices heard, demonstrating the highest turnout in a midterm for young voters since the voting age was lowered to 18 in 1971. And in the Aug. 2 Kansas ballot referendum on abortion access, young people again showed up, voted and made a difference.

    According to national polling conducted by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics earlier this year, young people are poised to yet again rise to the challenge and “match 2018’s record-breaking youth turnout in a midterm election this November.” And, the Alliance for Youth Action’s survey found that “the overwhelming majority of young people in these key states say they plan to get involved in the 2022 elections with 86% saying they will turn out to vote.”

    But, the national polling also reveals an alarming sentiment. The survey from Harvard shows that 42 percent of young voters now say their vote “doesn’t make a difference,” up from 31 percent in 2018.

    As leading civic engagement organizations, this sobering news captured our attention as well. But we can’t take young people for granted this election season. Not only are “there are an estimated 8.3 million newly eligible young voters for the 2022 midterm elections,” but issues affecting young people are front and center in the news. From access to abortion services to the future of our environment to jobs and the economy, there is certainly a lot at stake this election for young Americans.

    Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

    That’s why it’s more important than ever that young people continue to be a formidable voting bloc this election season and make their voices heard.

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