Where are all the young voters?
I voted early stickers are seen at a polling station on Oct. 25, 2022, in Milwaukee, Wis. | Morry Gash/AP PhotoAdd this to the list of Democratic worries ahead of the midterms: Younger voters — a cornerstone of the party’s electoral coalition — make up a smaller share of early and absentee voters so far than they did in 2020.. But young voters have contributed to a smaller fraction of that turnout compared to this time two years ago, according to interviews and a POLITICO analysis of voter data.
The overall situation looks better for Democrats in Pennsylvania, where they have maintained a more than 50-point advantage in absentee ballots returned so far, a similar share to 2020. But that is still despite low participation there from young voters, who the party still needs to turn out in order to win the state’s U.S. Senate seat.
Young voters have historically been less likely to vote early or by mail than older voters. They also generally turn out in lower numbers overall and are more likely to drop out of the electorate in midterm years — though they were key to Biden’s 2020 victory, when turnout among voters under 30 was 11 points higher compared to the previous presidential election, according to
Another possible explanation for the lack of young voter representation so far might be decreased focus on early voting compared to prior years in the pandemic.