How impactful was the youth vote (voters between 18 and 24) in 2020? And on what front(s)? Wondering how much of a difference it made and what will be important to work towards in 2024.
— Asked March 7, 2023, in our election live chat
The youth vote definitely made a difference in 2020, surpassing turnout in 2016.
And we know that young voters were also enthusiastic about voting in the 2022 midterms.
“About 1 in 8 voters overall were under 30, and more than half supported Democratic candidates in the midterm elections, according to early exit polling and AP VoteCast. But support for Democrats among young voters, while still running well ahead of their support for Republicans, eroded somewhat from the 2018 midterms,” my colleague Samantha Chery reported.
Answered by Brianna Tucker
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One thing we noticed when Dylan Wells was reporting on the Georgia runoff with student voters of this age group is that voters of both parties say their party needs to work on engagement to turn out the youth vote, including in 2024.
It’s actually a common theme we’ve heard from this demographic before while reporting across the country.
In interviews with The Washington Post, more than 20 students said they appreciated acknowledgment from both candidates, but older generations and Democratic and Republican politicians and operatives are not doing enough to engage and turn out young people.
— Dylan Wells (@dylanewells) December 6, 2022