Start ‘Em Young (But How?)

Photo by Greyson Joralemon on Unsplash

As I delve deeper into examining the young voter, the ‘white whale’ of the American electorate, the constant narrative of this crucial voting bloc simply not turning out to vote continues to emerge. While every election is important in its own way, it’s becoming clear to me that local elections actually impact voters’ lives much more directly than national ones. Yet local elections are missing a gigantic chunk of millennial voters who participate in national elections but not ones in their cities.

Young people are moving into cities across the nation, transforming them, but it’s hard to have influence when you don’t vote. Voter turnout in the 2014 midterm elections (36.3 percent) was the lowest it’s been since World War II, while turnout for local elections registered even lower, with research showing only 1 in 5 eligible voters showing up for mayoral elections.

A study by the Knight Foundation was extremely insightful to my research this week. The research breaks down in detail local voting through focus groups containing millennials (ages 20 to 34) who voted in the 2012 presidential election but haven’t voted in recent local elections. It revealed many of the factors involved in why young voters shy away from local elections.

“We have a lot of layers of government in this country. From cities and counties, to states and regions and the federal government, and dozens or even hundreds of positions at every level. We’re asked to vote for a long, occasionally absurd list of people, issues and jobs. This leaves a lot of people asking: How do these positions affect me, and will my vote make a difference?”

• Lack of information about the candidates and issues was the biggest barrier millennials experience to local voting. This contrasts with national elections where there tends to be information overload. Studies suggest voters have less information in local elections than in national ones, so they’re less likely to vote.
• Millennials don’t feel informed enough to vote in local elections and often are distrustful of the coverage or sources of the information. Delivering better information and channeling it based on how they consume news — mainly on mobile devices — will be important since they’re unlikely to seek out coverage of local elections.
• Millennials don’t fully comprehend how local government affects their lives. The study showed that some asked whether things like schools and public transit “count” as local government. They care genuinely for local issues, but many don’t make the connection between these things and local government, so don’t see why voting for local government matters.
• At the same token, millennials are less attracted to messages that frame voting as a responsibility or “civic duty” — Basically it’s important to remember that nobody likes homework. The focus groups found that young people responded most favorably to positive messages that emphasize channeled local pride and outlined how voting could produce clear, tangible outcomes for issues important to them.
• Young voters have low levels of trust in government. These millennials engage in their community in many ways, like volunteering and supporting local charities, but are skeptical of government as a lever for change. As Ruby remarked in our recent chat: “There’s been a precipitous erosion of trust between young people and institutions of all stripes in the last 30–40 years: banking, Congress…So that in and of itself reduces the desire for young people to vote.”
• Millennials move a lot more than older adults. Those who had recently moved to the city often said it was hard to get to know local civic life and feel connected to what’s going on around them. Millennials born and raised in the community were more eager to vote in future local elections.
• They often choose where they live because they enjoy the recreation, culture, and options to explore. Connecting with millennials via these cultural settings may be effective for linking elections to local life.
• The voting process itself doesn’t seem to be as much of a factor for millennials as other demographics, with most of them pretty clear when it comes to knowing how to register and identify their voting location.
• Voting is a social activity, and we’re more likely to do it when our friends and colleagues are participating or providing dialogue about it. The problem is that millennials are surrounded by other millennials who are not very likely to vote. How do we give voting the FOMO treatment?

Through the culmination of my research, I will reference the following points as I approach prototyping ideas:

1. A mobile app is justified as it is the primary way millennials receive and exchange information and news. Study how millennials consume news and what they love about the apps they use most.
2. To get down to it, my app may need to know the user’s address to find local candidates quickly and efficiently. Be aware that a long onboarding process will annoy the user.
3. Does app ask if user would like to allow location access to get them to the right district of candidates fast?
4. Getting to the issues that matter most to voters is essential. Does this include simple on-boarding questions to find out their exact issues they care about? (Can Machine Learning be used to make questions more tailored for each user?)
5. Any questions need to feel intuitive and not endless. Get to the point fast.
6. Stay away from ‘governmentese’ and complex language. Most non-partisan non-profit sites lack an understanding of good design and the language needed to make politics make sense and enjoyable for ALL people. We are not trying to preach to the choir. We want to attract the young indie upstart.
7. Provide simple clear info on candidates & issues (Users need to quickly know what is on ballots and what they are voting for.)
8. How to convince voters to trust the sources of info?
9. Do I need to provide rules of voting in that particular district?
10. Once the user gets to understand candidates, they should be able to take action right away, either to register or to help with campaigns or donations.
11. Even though voter registration does not seem to be an issue for young voters, is this still part of it so it can be a go-to source for all things related to voting?
12. Civic literacy is ideal and needs to be bite-sized and easy to digest. But is it practical to expect the user to want to learn? How do I make this enjoayble somehow? No one likes homework. So don’t make it seem like a civic responsibility (even though it is).
13. How to convey that local government policies can directly affect their lives?
14. How to welcome people who just moved (welcome package?) Do we ask how long they’ve lived there?
15. Voting is a social activity. How to convince people to vote if their friends aren’t doing it? How do we create a feeling of ‘FOMO’?
16. What are the issues that young people care about the most? Look at what popular young candidates stand for and I might find the answers.