More than two million voting eligible Californians between the ages of 18 to 24 failed to vote in the 2012 general election, despite an increase in registration rates, says a recent study by University of California, Davis.
Youth voter registration rates have gone up by 14 percentage points since the state implemented online voter registration, but turnout dropped by 10 percentage points in 2012. The study notes that the decline is particularly evident in lower-income counties. For example, Imperial County had the lowest turnout of 17.6 percent compared to wealthier Marin County, where 58 percent of eligible young people voted.
Despite recent improvements in access to voter registration, “California’s electoral system is still challenging for many youth to access,” said Mindy Romero, study author and project director of the California Civic Engagement Project of the UC Davis Center for Regional Change.
“These findings suggest that increasing youth voter registration rates does not alone automatically translate into increased representation for youth at the polls,” Romero said. “Youth need education and outreach, particularly for those from resource-poor communities, to help them learn about and find relevancy in the act of voting itself.”
Learn more about improving youth voter engagement, starting in public high schools, here.
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