Voter Preregistration Is Sweeping the Nation!

Michigan joins the club today.

Everyone knows young people have a constitutional right to begin voting at age 18, but did you know that only 30% of 18-year-olds are registered to vote? That’s why we love laws allowing for preregistration at age 16; they give young people (who are very busy!) a reasonable period of time to get ready to cast their first ballot.   

The latest states to bring this wonderful opportunity to their residents are (drumroll, please…) Illinois and Michigan. Welcome to the club! You join 17 states and the District of Columbia, that have already given their 16-year-olds the right to preregister.

Today, a bill in Michigan allowing preregistration at 16 has been signed by Governor Whitmer. It will go into effect in early 2024. Hooray for Michigan!

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In August of this year, Governor Pritzker of Illinois signed legislation that will allow young people to preregister at 16. The law goes into effect on January 1, 2024. Hooray for Illinois!

These legislative changes mean that high school students in both states will be in a position to run highly effective voter registration drives in their high schools this spring. 

The margin of victory in the Michigan US Senate race in 2020 was under 100,000. According to US Census data, roughly 130,000 young people in Michigan turn 18 every year. In Illinois, roughly 170,000 turn 18 every year, which can have a significant influence in primaries and local elections. 

Here’s what our national preregistration map will look like once these laws go into effect: 

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Take action!

If you are excited to see our democracy expanding and want to know what you can to do help, here are our top five ideas:

1. Run a VR drive in your high school
   If you are a student or educator, sign up to attend a Run A Drive workshop to learn everything they need to know about how to run a high school voter registration drive.  If you know high school students and educators, encourage them to sign up. Here’s a link to get started.

2. Tell a friend
   Many people still don’t know that preregistration exists. Let them know that half of US teens live in states where they can preregister to vote as soon as they turn 16 and that the list of states is growing fast. See our map to find out the preregistration laws in your state. Make sure all the teens in your life register or preregister as soon as they are old enough and ask your friends and family to do the same. 

3. Contact Elected Officials
   Pennsylvania has a bill pending, which would add PA to the growing group of preregistration at age 16 states. If you live in Pennsylvania, sign our online action to send a personalized email to your representative to ask them to bring preregistration to your state.

4. Join Our Letter-Writing Campaign
   Between now and Election Day 2024, our volunteers will be reaching out to households with teens to raise awareness about preregistration and to spark kitchen-table conversations to encourage everyone to register as soon as they are old enough.

5. Donate to support our work
   Every day we are working to bring voter registration to every high school in America. Your support keeps us going.

Helping young people register to vote as soon as they are old enough helps to create a life-long habit of voting. We know that when young people are registered they turn out at high rates–US Census data show that in every presidential election going back to 2004, more than 75% of registered youth turned out! Young people can have a meaningful impact on elections, so let’s do everything we can to make sure they’re registered and ready to make their voices heard BEFORE they turn 18.