Our Purpose
4 million Americans turn 18 every year, but we estimate fewer than 30% are registered to vote.
Barriers to registration are the #1 obstacle to youth voter turnout. The Civics Center has the solution: Preregister teens in high school.
Youth voter suppression is due to:
Lack of Infrastructure
According to Pew research, most students are never asked to register to vote in school or as part of a class.
In general, schools and school districts have not adopted, much less effectively implemented, voter registration policies and programs. Youth are not being given the tools, including meaningful civics education, to register or to understand why registration and voting are important. Their teachers haven’t received training or materials, and their schools don’t have any plans to incorporate it. Some states have passed laws to obstruct young people’s ability to register and to vote.
Lack of Comprehensive Data
Numbers reveal how well a community is onboarding its newest voters.
Data collected for voter files is inconsistent and kept in different ways, state by state. Details vary and different amounts are charged for access to it and use of it. Every voting campaign uses this data, which is often times out of reach due to limited budgets.
Youth Invisibility
Candidates and campaigns do not speak to voters’ needs until they are registered.
Many candidates target only “likely voters,” who are, by definition, already registered; they usually miss teen voters entirely. When you are not registered to vote, you are invisible to candidates and campaigns relevant to your life. It’s no wonder young people feel they are being ignored.
We know that young people are not apathetic.
In every presidential election from 2004-2020, more than 75% of registered young people (18-24) voted.
Existing pre-18 voter registration laws create enormous opportunities.
50% of youth live in states where they can preregister as early as 16. Another 20% can preregister at around 17. Of the remaining 30%, most have time to register during their senior year of high school.
High schools are the most efficient and equitable system we have for getting young people registered, particularly the 40% who do not attend college.
The structure, support, and recurring educational cycle that high schools offer combine to create the conditions for the cultural change needed to make voting a habit that lasts a lifetime.
Engaging young people in a positive way is critical to the effort. By focusing on high school students, we can foster an educational, nonpartisan framework for civic engagement, voter registration and casting a first ballot.