NEW DATA: Pennsylvania
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
Today we’re sharing the latest data from Pennsylvania, which we’ll be tracking weekly as we approach the state’s October 21 registration deadline.
This is the twelfth 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.
Pennsylvania
As of September 23, the registration rate for 18-year-olds in PA is 45.9%. This represents a 3 percentage point gain compared to one week earlier.
With less than three weeks remaining until the state’s October 21 deadline, things are moving in the right direction, but more than 85,000 18-year-olds in the state are not yet registered.
Even the Greater Philadelphia area, which has trended above the state overall, did not break the 50% mark in our latest data: as of September 23, the registration rate for 18-year-olds in Greater Philly was only 48.8%.
Allegheny County broke the 50% mark and saw a greater increase than the state as a whole and the Greater Philly area: week on week, the Pittsburgh county rose 4.5 percentage points, hitting 51.4%.
Here’s one possible reason for the larger increase in Allegheny: On September 19, The Civics Center, together with other members of the Allegheny Youth Vote Coalition¹ convened a county-wide “Huddle,” attracting more than 150 high school students to learn how to run nonpartisan voter registration drives in their high schools. As those students are now in the process of holding drives, we expect continued strong growth in Allegheny.
For a detailed case study on the positive impact of high school voter registration drives, please see Brill, et al., Research Report: Increasing Voter Registration Among 18-year-olds in New Hampshire (Feb. 6, 2024).
Pennsylvania does not have same-day voter registration. Anyone not registered on October 21 will not be eligible to vote in the November 5th general election. There is still time for young people, as well as parents and educators to make sure all young people understand how and why to register.
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.
1 The members of the Allegheny Youth Vote Coalition are: Alliance for Police Accountability, Black Political Empowerment Project, Boys & Girls Clubs of Western PA, League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh, NCJW Pittsburgh, New PA Project, New Voices for Reproductive Justice, PA Youth Vote, The Civics Center, Women & Girls Foundation.