Giving Compass' Take:
- A podcast at Futurity explores the persistent gaps between young voters' intent and turnout, much of which can be explained by nerves and a lack of confidence.
- What can we do to make the voting process more accessible for all groups? Why is it so important to narrow the gap between young voters' intent and actual turnout at the ballots?
- Look deeper into the role of education in young voters' turnout.
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Why do so few young people in the United States vote? Researchers have investigated.
For some reason, there’s a big gap between young Americans’ intention to vote and the chance that they will actually do it.
Duke University professor D. Sunshine Hillygus says she’s heard it all about why young people don’t vote: “that young people are apathetic, that they’re disinterested, that they are selfish and narcissistic and too busy taking selfies rather than thinking about the common good or civic life,” she says.
But her research shows that’s not the case. “The vast majority of young people are interested in politics; they care who is elected.”
Hillygus and colleague John Holbein decided to focus on the gap between intention to vote and actual turnout.
If there's one comment sentiment among the seniors who are about to be able to vote for the first time, it's nerves. The whole idea of voting in an election? It's kind of intimidating, they say.
Listen to the full podcast about young voters' intent and turnout at Futurity.