Reports on the 2024 election reveal the complex role young voters played, with varying data on their turnout and preferences. Understanding these early trends is crucial for developing future strategies to increase youth voter registration and engagement.

Laura W. Brill shares heartfelt 2024 election statements with 16 million students and 1 million educators, emphasizing respect, dignity, and hope for a thriving democracy.

Today’s election highlights the need for consistent support in voter registration. With over 60 million Americans unregistered, including 10 million young people, our democracy suffers. By focusing on high school registration and long-term funding, we can strengthen civic engagement and create lasting change.

Send this post to a friend in one of the 20+ states with same-day registration and ask them to make sure everyone knows about same-day registration (and plans to vote. Please restack to ask others, especially young people, to do the same.

Pennsylvania’s voter registration deadline was last week on October 21. As of that deadline, the statewide registration rate for 18-year-olds was 58.5%, up 3.9 percentage points week-on-week. The rate has more than doubled since June of this year.

Today, we’re sharing data from New Hampshire, a state with notoriously difficult registration rules. Low levels of registration for the youngest voters — the lowest of all the states we’re tracking — reflect the challenges.

As of October 19, 64.8% of 18-year-olds are registered to vote in Clark County, making the greater Las Vegas area one of the higher-performing urban areas we are tracking this election season. 

As of October 14, just one week before the October 21 registration deadline, only 54.6% of 18-year-olds are registered to vote in Pennsylvania. There are still 71,000 unregistered 18-year-olds across PA, a state where the margin of victory in the 2020 presidential election was just 81,660.

With rates of preregistration among 16- and 17-year-olds abysmally low, Governor Newsom thinks it isn’t a problem in need of solving.

Fewer than half of the 18-year-olds in New York State are registered to vote. That’s about 121,000 unregistered 18-year-olds. The deadline to register is October 26. That’s only 11 days away, and that’s the day voter registration applications must be received by elections officials, not merely mailed.

The registration rate for 18-year-olds in PA is still only 48.5% - a 2.6 percentage point increase since last week, but a deceleration from the 3 percentage point gain the previous week.

Real-life examples of students, educators, parents, and community volunteers who are helping to promote youth political participation and make voter registration part of high schools in their area.

As of October 1, 81% of 18-year-olds in Michigan are registered to vote. This is far and away the highest rate among states we’re tracking this election cycle.

With less than three weeks remaining until the state’s October 21 deadline, most 18-year-olds in the state (more than 85,000) are not yet registered to vote.

Maine and Virginia have drastically different performance in their 18-year-old registration rates. In both states, the registration rates for the youngest voters pale in comparison to those of older voters.

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.

Last week, we shared new data for New York showing that under 45% of 18-year-olds are registered to vote. Unfortunately, the story is the same in Arizona and Ohio, where the deadline to register to vote is October 7th – less than two weeks away.

This week - Sept. 23-27, is High School Voter Registration Week. The Civics Center created High School Voter Registration Week back in 2019, to serve as a tentpole event for high school community organizing and to draw attention to the enormous opportunities for welcoming young people into our democracy in high school. Here's what you can do to help.

As of September 9th, New York State registrations have not accelerated in recent weeks as they have in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Most 18-year-olds in New York, over 130,000 people, are not yet registered.