NEW DATA Pennsylvania: A Long Way to Go in a Big State
90,000 18-year-olds remain unregistered to vote with under a month before the deadline
Today we’re sharing data from Pennsylvania – yet another state where 18-year-old voter registration rates are under 45%, with just over 3 weeks left to register before the October 21 deadline for the general election in November.
This is the tenth of our 2024 Election Season weekly series of Future Voter Scorecards.
We’ll be publishing every week, drilling down to the local level to show where and how young people can make a difference when they register and vote. We’ll be covering the percentage of 18-year-olds who are registered and tracking changes over time.
Facts don’t fix themselves. It’s up to our readers to spread the word; make sure that all the young people you know are registered to vote, and that they help their school communities do the same.
This week (Sept. 23-27) is High School Voter Registration Week. Students in dozens of states, including Pennsylvania, are signed up to hold drives. There’s still time for students and educators to attend a free workshop to learn how to run a drive. Teachers can download a free toolkit to learn how to make a difference in their school communities.
And if you’re not a student or educator, and are looking for ways to help, please check out this post for ideas.
Pennsylvania
Statewide, PA saw a 7.3 percentage point month-on-month increase in 18-year-old registration rates, rising to 42.9%. While this might seem like a large gain in any other month, the cutoff to register to vote is now less than one month away. By contrast, 78% of Pennsylvanians ages 45 and above are registered. There is still time — but it’s running short — for the youngest voters to make further gains.
Pennsylvania’s rate is similar to that in OH, AZ, and NY — i.e., under 45%. It doesn’t have to be this way. In Maryland and Michigan, the registration rates for 18-year-olds are 20 and 30+ points higher, respectively.
Statewide in PA, there are still 90,000 18-year-olds who are not yet registered with just under 4 weeks until the October 21st registration deadline. We also see in Pennsylvania, as we see in other states, large disparities between wealthier suburban areas (like Montgomery and Chester Counties) and major cities (like Philadelphia).
See below for detailed scorecards on 18-year-old registration rates for the most populous counties and for school districts in Allegheny county and greater Philadelphia.
Like we said at the top: facts don’t fix themselves. So if you think these rates should be higher, please reach out some brotherly love and share our data and resources with a friend, and please consider a donation to support our work.