81% of 18-year-olds are registered as of October 1. Deadline for online voter registration is October 21.

Today we’re sharing data from Michigan – our last update on the state before its October 21 deadline for online voter registration.

This is the thirteenth 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.

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.

Michigan

As of October 1, 81% of 18-year-olds in Michigan are registered to vote, a 3 percentage point increase from September 1. This is far and away the highest rate among states we’re tracking this election cycle.

Michigan’s performance is a stunning example of what can happen when a state passes policy to support youth voting, and implements the details well.

If there is one down note in these results, it’s that Michigan’s urban areas – Wayne County and Oakland County – still trail the state overall. “Only” 75% and 78% of 18-year-olds are registered to vote in Wayne County and Oakland County, respectively.

While the statewide 18-year-old registration rate increased 3 percentage points between September and October, Wayne and Oakland rates increased only ~1.5 ppts. Even a best-in-class state is not immune from inequalities.

Today’s data release is our final one before Michigan’s October 21 online registration deadline. We hope that in the final two weeks of registration Wayne and Oakland can close the gap on the rest of the state.

For some encouragement, we note that these counties are already miles above the national rate for 18-year-olds in 2020 (47.5%, according to the US Census) and miles above the other states we’re tracking this cycle. And our dream is that the ability to drill down to the school district level, as we do below, will foster some healthy competition driving up rates in the final weeks.

See below for detailed scorecards on 18-year-old registration rates for the most populous counties in MI and for school districts in Wayne County and Oakland County.