Willi Kampmann
Sep 9, 2018 · 2 min read

Wisdom would make you check your sources. You’re just wrong.

Voter turnout in 2016: 59.2%

Voter turnout in 2000: 54.2%

Actual ballots counted (valid ones only), for all eligible voters. Source, based on data from US Elections Project

Meanwhile, Census.gov reports that older generations have always taken voting more seriously than younger generations, and this has stayed pretty steady (note, though, that all their data appears to be based on polls).

From Census.gov

But let’s dig deeper and take a look at 1980, 2000 and 2016:

1980

  • 18 — 29yo: 48.2%
  • 30 — 44yo: 67.2%
  • 65+yo: 69.8%

2000

  • 18 — 29yo: 40.3%
  • 30 — 44yo: 58.5%
  • 65+yo: 69.6%

2016

  • 18 — 29yo: 46.1%
  • 30 — 44yo: 58.7%
  • 65+yo: 70.9%

In comparison to 1980, in 2000, significantly fewer young people (-8%) voted (that was Gen X). But also significantly fewer people between 30 and 44 voted (older part of Gen X and some late baby boomers)! So … everyone who wasn’t really old was to blame for Bush? In 2016, meanwhile, numbers stabilised somewhat, so almost as many young people voted as in 1980 (-2%). However, voter turnout for 30 — 44yo stayed at -9%. So if there’s anything to draw from that, I think it’s that the generation born between 1970 and 1980 remained less interested in politics even with age. Millennials, however, aren’t any different than those born in the 1950ies. I don’t know when you were born, but it’s just hypocritical.

Yes, young people have always voted less. And thereby have let old people (those you call wise and woke) make the terrible choices; have let old white men vote for Bush and Trump, among many other incompetents before. But this isn’t unique to any one generation, it’s a constant throughout (at least recent) history.

    Willi Kampmann

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