We Need A Youth Quake
Overcoming Barriers to Student Voting by Edie N. Goldenberg
This piece is part of our Spark series: Voting and Equity in the United States
Why don’t young people vote? The 2016 turnout gap between those 18–24 and those over age 24 was more than 20 percent, and the gap in the off-years, with no presidential contests, is even greater.[1] While some are quick to blame young people for their laziness or lack of interest, those explanations aren’t grounded in research. Ample evidence shows that many young people are passionate about issues facing their localities, their states, and the nation. So, what keeps eligible young people from casting their ballots in local, state, and national elections?
Voter Registration
When we think about electoral participation, the first step is getting registered.[2]
A study published in 2012 showed that, for young people, a greater frequency of moving from one address to another reduces the odds that young people will get registered to vote. But why should moving make such a difference?
States and localities set the rules for voter registration within their borders. Those rules can be confusing, are constantly changing, and can be far from neutral in their effects. Every time potential voters change their addresses, they must update their registrations. Doing this isn’t always easy, and the rules for doing so are not the same across jurisdictions. For example, someone who moves from California to Michigan may be completely baffled by the new state rules. Unlike California, prior to 2018, Michigan was one of very few states in the country that hadn’t adopted any of the reforms that ease access to the ballot. Voter registration had to be completed 30 days prior to the election and had to be done in person or by mail. In California, one can register online, one can register up to and including on Election Day, and one can pre-register at age 16 — when applying for that first driver’s license — and become registered automatically on turning 18.
In 2018, Michigan’s rules changed. Proposition 3, which passed overwhelmingly, amended the state constitution to ease access somewhat by permitting automatic voter registration and Election Day registration. Michigan also passed online voter registration this year. These 3 reforms are especially helpful to young voters. Automatic voter registration automatically registers eligible individuals, unless they decline, when they apply for a driver’s license or state identification (though this helps only those who apply for their driver’s license after age 17 ½ because Michigan still does not permit pre-registration at age 16). Election Day registration allows individuals to register or correct their registrations up to and including on Election Day, although a recent action by the state legislature requires that registration take place in the clerk’s office rather than at the voting site. And there is one additional twist in Michigan’s rules that complicate voting for college students: Under current state rules in Michigan, if one signs up for a driver’s license, the process automatically assigns a voting site for that same address. Since many college students prefer to vote at their college address, this can lead to confusion on Election Day when they show up at a campus voting site only to learn that they are registered somewhere else. Election Day registration permits the voter to correct registration at the last minute.
Online registration provides an easy means of registering or updating, one that should be especially appealing to young voters. A 2010 report found that online registrants are younger and more likely to vote after getting registered than are those who register by some other means. More than ¾ of the states already have or will soon have online registration, but a few states still do not.
Voter Information
The second step toward electoral participation requires information. Once registered, responsible voters will want to learn about the candidates and issues that will appear on the ballot. The greater mobility of young people not only makes them less familiar — or even confused — about voting rules but also less familiar with state and local issues and candidates. Information deficits could be addressed by campaigns, but young voters are infrequently targeted by campaigns because they are not repeat voters and they are not expected to turn out.
Other kinds of information are also essential. Voters need to know where to vote, how to vote, when to vote, and what sort of identification will be required. Voting sites sometimes move. Two or more precincts may be co-located in a single building, and it can be easy to get in the wrong line. The mechanical aspects of voting also vary from place to place — with different types of voting machines and different ways of filling out the ballot. Knowing when to vote is not always clear either. Some jurisdictions hold primary, local, or state elections at times other than when federal offices are decided. When elections are held during the summer, those students who are registered at their campus addresses are unlikely to get informed or to vote. And necessary identification not only varies but also is a constantly changing reality.
Turning Out to Vote
Finally, voting itself is subject to state and local rules that sometimes work against the interests of young people. Repeat voters know where to vote, but new voters — especially if they have recently moved — may not. Some states accept student IDs at the polls; other do not. A recent innovation by the local Ann Arbor clerk that identified voting sites for each campus dormitory was very helpful in clarifying where University of Michigan students needed to go to cast their ballots.
Most states allow early voting, which makes it possible to vote over an “early voting” period. Voters in early voting states can plan around work or study schedules or bad weather. They can also decide that the lines are too long one day and return on another. In contrast, in states without early voting, in-person voting can take place only on one day. Early voting is another reform that eases voting for young people.
Sometimes voting sites are located in places that are hard to find or at substantial distance. Students are especially challenged because they often have no cars, have classes far from where they live and little time to get to the polls, stand in line, and get back between classes. This can be a significant barrier to clinical students — in medicine, nursing, or dentistry — who work long hours and have little time to vote while the polls are open. Absentee voting rules are especially important for such students. Until Proposition 3 passed in Michigan and allowed no-excuse absentee voting, the only legitimate excuses to permit absentee voting were age (over 60), disability, working at the polls, or absence from the locality.
One of the worst state voting rules for college students — in effect only in Michigan and Tennessee — requires that first-time voters in the state present their ID’s in-person in the voting locality (or to the Secretary of State or Department of Motor Vehicles) in order to be eligible to receive an absentee ballot. This means that new students who want to vote at home rather than at their campus address must register in person before they come to campus in September, or they must travel home — sometimes for hours in each direction — to show ID or to vote in person on a school day.
Action Needed
The rules that affect the eligibility to vote, the ease of voting, the timing of elections, and the rules for casting votes vary from place to place and can create barriers that disproportionately discourage young people from voting. The challenges facing universities which enroll students from all over the United States are daunting as they try to help students participate in elections. So why should we care?
Responsible citizenship is a virtue that is fundamental to a well-functioning democracy. Helping students develop habits of good citizenship is an important part of the university mission as it supports the transition to adulthood and the development of leadership skills.
We need a Youth Quake. Young people should seek — and even demand — the help they need to exercise their rights to vote. Communities, states, high schools, and universities should respond in ways that improve youth access to the ballot by addressing the barriers to registration, education, and voting.
[1] Jared A. McDonald & Michael J. Hanmer, “Understanding and Confronting Barriers to Youth Voting in American,” prepared for the Data-Driven Strategies to Promote Youth Turnout, MIT, 2018.
[2] Nebraska is the only state that requires no voter registration. An increasing number of other states are adopting Election Day voter registration (EDR) which allows eligible voters to register up to and including on Election Day.
Edie N. Goldenberg is a professor of political science and public policy at the University of Michigan and is a member of the Diversity Scholars Network at the National Center for Institutional Diversity. Goldenberg’s research interests are around promoting political participation of college students, especially as informed voters.
