Youth voters represent a significant portion of the voting population and have the potential to impact the results of an election, however in recent years, studies show that the number of youth participation in elections has decreased.
Recent CIRCLE studies have shown that the percentage of youth voters in 2014 was the lowest ever recorded. Of young people, ages 18-29, 51 percent voted in 2008 elections, 45 percent in 2012, and most recently 19.9 percent in the 2014 election. This huge drop is still being studied in order to be explained and to predict how lower youth participation will impact elections.
Ed Finn, the City Clerk of Medford, said this year was “an off year for Medford, meaning we have local elections going on and the youth participation so far has been limited.”
“We have better participation when it’s a presidential election,” said Finn of youth voters.
A recent CIRCLE study also says that the majority, 71 percent, of young voters are college students. College students are only a portion of the total youth, but generally represent the strong majority of the voting youth because they are more educated on the issues surrounding the election and voting procedures.
Ryen Cahill of Wilmington, a student at Lesley University in Cambridge said that youth voting is “extremely important, especially now.” Cahill said that youth can have a powerful impact on the results of an election and remembers that all she wanted to do on her 18th birthday was to register to vote in time for the presidential election that year.
“People our age might not vote because they are not educated about the people running and this could be changed if the candidates running were more involved within college campuses,” Cahill said.
Casey Mclaughlin, of Chelsea, said registering to vote was a quick and easy process that she did when getting her license. Because it was so easy she feels there is no excuse for people not to.
“Some people don’t care and think that their vote won’t matter, but if everyone thought that there wouldn’t be an election. It is important that the youth votes because we are the future,” Mclaughlin said.
Lauren Taylor, who commutes to UMass Boston from her home in Medford, also strongly feels that youth voters are important. Although commuting to school leaves her with less time than other students, she said she found the time to register to vote and thought the process was easy with organizations her school set up.
Taylor said more young voters should vote because “we could sway an election. A lot of the things they talk about apply to us, such as college tuition.”
“Because we are so young, people think voting doesn’t make a difference and they are not thinking about how it impacts our future,” said Taylor.
Katherine Topian, a Pace University student of Malden said she finds it more difficult to register. She hopes to vote in the next presidential election, but is not currently a registered voter because she believes it is a hassle to do while living out-of-state.
“If you could register online completely within ten minutes I would. Our generation is more about the now and more would do it if it was quicker,” Topian said.
Tseten Menhla of Medford, and a University of New Hampshire student, has not registered because her school only offers events for in state students to register, and to register in her hometown would be more difficult, she said.
Menhla said she plans on registering before the next election even though she hasn’t yet had a chance to. She said she feels that people our age, “don’t care about politics as much as they should.”
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