Engaging young citizens in the democratic process is an issue that lawmakers and voting rights advocates have long attempted to address. But with most youth voter engagement efforts primarily targeting college-attending youth (who make up less than half of the population of 18-24 year olds and are more likely to register and vote), the problem of underrepresented youth is likely to remain unsolved.
As voter education and access to voter registration seem to go hand-in-hand with greater voter participation rates, more lawmakers and advocates are siding with a simple solution for youth voter engagement: preregistration. However, as the state legislatures demonstrate this year, support for this reform could not happen fast enough.
“Preregistration is an emerging election reform designed to help enfranchise young citizens in greater numbers by allowing them to register in advance of their 18th birthdays, so that they will automatically be enrolled and eligible to cast a ballot as soon as they reach voting age,” according to new Project Vote legislative brief, Expanding the Youth Electorate Through Preregistration. “In addition, most preregistration programs typically include an education component that teaches youth about voter education and civic engagement.”
Currently, four states – Florida, Hawaii, North Carolina, and soon, Rhode Island – implement preregistration programs for 16- and 17-year-old citizens. A 2009 report by George Mason University associate professor Michael McDonald found that voter participation among preregistered citizens, particularly young African Americans, in preregistration states Florida and Hawaii were higher than voter turnout among young people who register at the traditional age of 18.
With at least eight more states considering preregistration this year, it appears lawmakers are finally following the lead of Florida and Hawaii by warming up to the idea of looking beyond the college campus in youth engagement efforts. However, in spite of the positive track record of preregistration policies, potentially valuable election reform bills in Kansas, Michigan, and Arizona remain in their respective committees, untouched.
Last week, Arizona, which ranks 40th in the nation of youth voter registration rates, ran out of time before it could vote on a proposed measure to register high school age citizens in advance of their 18th birthdays. A similar House bill (2269) also failed to meet the deadline to be voted out of committee last week. Although the legislature did show concern overall with Arizona’s lagging voter registration and participation among youth, it only took action to support improved registration for college students by adopting another measure, HB 2668. This bill – authored by Rep. Matt Heinz with the help of the Arizona Student Association – requires the Arizona Board of Regents and community college district boards to work with their student governments to adopt a plan for increasing student registration and voting.
“While improving voter registration and participation among young people is to be applauded, it is disappointing to see preregistration go overlooked this year,” says Arizona-based Project Vote election administration manager, Bo Banwo. “HB 2668 doesn’t address the population of young people who do not attend college.”
Half of the 32 million Americans ages 18-24 have no college experience and therefore miss out on youth-targeted voter registration efforts that tend to target college students, according to a 2008 Project Vote memo. While important in engaging one facet of the youth voting population, these efforts are not sufficient in balancing the youth electorate as the majority of students on college campuses tend to be white (70%), a group that is already as much as 10 percentage points more likely to register to vote than their African-American and Latino counterparts, who in 2007, made up only 12 and 10 percent of the student body, respectively.
Other youth voting efforts may target younger groups, such as high school seniors. However, given drop-out rates in 12th grade and the disproportionate number of minority students that do not complete their high school education, preregistration for 16 and 17-year-olds seems like a failsafe option in youth voter engagement efforts.
“Dropout rates in 12th grade exemplify the need for preregistration efforts at a younger age if it is to occur through schools,” according to the Project Vote brief. “This problem is exacerbated among minority citizens, who are more likely to drop out of school before their senior year. According to the 2009 Statistical Abstracts of the United States, the annual dropout rate for White students in grades 10 through 12 is three percent, compared to four percent for African-Americans and Asians, and six percent for Latinos.”
After the hearing, Heinz told us that he plans to work with local groups throughout the year to build support for issues like preregistration to bring to the legislature in 2011.
“The growing population of young Americans – especially youth of color – and their lagging participation in the democratic process indicate a need to revitalize both youth voter engagement and voter access,” Project Vote’s brief says. “Today, there are nearly 8.9 million 16- and 17-year-old citizens in the United States, of whom more than 3.8 million (39%) are non-white. If preregistered at the same rate as their 18-year-old counterparts, there would have been more than 4.3 million 16- and 17-year-old pre-registrants as of November 2008, all just an 18th birthday away from access to the ballot box.”