On National Voter Registration Day, Sierra Canyon STFers and classmates get pre-registered to vote. Photo by Emma Byun
Editor’s Note: Congratulations Harvard-Westlake and Sierra Canyon STFers for hosting the first pre-registration events of our Vote for Human Rights action plan!
August 2024, NBC News: In the 2022 midterm elections, 12% of ballots were cast by young adults ages 18-29, even though they make up approximately 18% of the electorate.
However, these numbers have been trending upward in recent years. Gen Z voters turned out at higher rates than previous generations during their first midterm elections in 2022. Fifty-one percent of voters ages 18-24 are expected to vote this November.
Key factors to youth voter turnout are the appeal to the issues they are more likely to care about, like the climate crisis, gun violence and racism, as well as ease of access to the ballot box. States that lowered barriers to voting had much higher rates of voting in 2022.
There are benefits to registering students during high school as soon as they turn voting age. “If you build habits of civic engagement earlier while students are in their home communities, voting is much more likely to stick,” said Michael Hanmer, director of the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland. He believes that voting is culture-based, and that school administrations, teachers and students can all take part in building a voting-positive culture…
Read the complete article online.
Learn how to register or pre-register to vote with STF’s Vote for Human Rights toolkit.
Harvard Westlake STFers host a lunchtime table event to get classmates to pre-register to vote on Tuesday, September 17.
Photo by Amelia Chiarelli