In the 2024 election, as in every U.S. election going back decades, tens of millions of Americans, including more than 10 million young people, were not registered to vote and therefore were unable to cast a ballot. Getting high school students registered or pre-registered to vote could be the answer to this problem.

Voter registration is an administrative process to create a list of voters who are eligible to participate in elections. In the United States, many otherwise-eligible voters are left out because they are not registered. The exclusionary impact is greatest for groups that are most marginalized, including those who are not white, have low incomes, and/or do not go to college, drive, or speak English as their primary language, and young people.

Many people assume that young people turn out to vote at low rates, even when they are registered. But that is not the case, at least in major national elections. According to US Census data, more than 75 percent of registered youth turned out in every presidential election going back to 2004. In 2020, 86 percent of registered youth turned out, and in 2024, 82 percent of registered youth turned out.

One of the greatest obstacles to voter turnout in general, and youth turnout in particular, is registration. In both 2020 and 2024, according to the US Census, less than 75 percent of US adult citizens were registered to vote. That meant more than 60 million people were not registered. More than 10 million of those unregistered were young people between the ages of 18 and 24. While 18- to 24-year-olds make up less than 12 percent of the adult citizen population, they comprise a much higher rate—17 percent—of those who are unregistered.

Young people go unregistered at even higher rates in midterm elections than in presidential election years. On average in this century, less than 30 percent of 18-year-olds have been registered during midterms. In 2022, the most recent midterm election, only 30.6 percent of 18-year-olds were registered. Compare that number with approximately 75 percent of voters age 45 and above. Given that four million people turn 18 every year, that meant about 2.8 million 18-year-olds were not registered to vote in that important election, underscoring the importance of getting high school students registered to vote.

Read the full article about youth voter engagement by Laura W. Brill at Stanford Social Innovation Review.