Exiting the most recent presidential election, Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) estimated that only 42% of young voters aged 18-29, colloquially known as Generation Z, cast ballots in the recent presidential election. Further, according to Associated Press News, only one in every 10 voters in the 2022 midterm elections were Gen Z. Youth voters make up roughly 20% of the voter population, yet turnout rates continue to hit historical lows.
Young people don’t vote — this consensus has been reached across numerous elections, by countless polls, analysts, and studies. But despite low turnout rates, CIRCLE found that youth activism and political engagement has been on the rise, with a 17-point increase in young people encouraging other youth to vote from 2018 to 2020. The reason for low voter turnout has more to do with a lack of informational resources, lack of outreach from campaigns, and lack of civic readiness than simply an impervious disinterest.
In 2020, CIRCLE concluded in their survey that youth who received civic instruction, taught voting procedures, and were encouraged to vote in high school, before they reach the legal age, are more likely to be informed and engaged voters.
In promotion of this exact beneficial, early form of civic engagement, AP Government students ran their own mock election, alongside the actual presidential election, with students going classroom-to-classroom informing peers about the candidates on the 2024 presidential ballot and their political aims and values. On Election Day, AP Government students sat at tables with ballot boxes in the plaza, encouraging peers to participate and cast their votes.
The mock election sparked conversation around presidential candidates, presented facts of each campaign through an unbiased, well-researched perspective, and most of all, mimicked democratic processes of the real world in an accessible way based around student advocacy. The mock election project was a great success, one that Westview should try to build upon by implementing more campus-wide activities that promote civic engagement.
Whether by incorporating student advocacy into course curriculum or bringing in administration-led initiatives, aiming to achieve civic readiness outside just the classroom can invigorate students with an interest in more than just major elections; there can be an emphasis on state and local elections as well, elections that affect students more directly.
Disengagement and low turnout are not symptoms of an apathetic, indifferent youth voter population; they are a consequence of widespread disillusionment shared among young voters, unsatisfied with campaigns that have left their youth constituency unacknowledged, uninformed without accessible resources. CIRCLE found that less than 1-in-5 youth have heard from a political party or community organization this year.
By 2028, Gen Z and millennial voters will make up nearly half the electorate, a percentage that will not go unignored; it cannot be neglected and left unnourished before the next presidential election.
In order to preserve the integrity and legitimacy of a healthy democracy, enthusiasm and interest must be revitalized among young voters, a process that must start earlier, even before one reaches the legal voting age. In a high school setting, which is geared toward preparing students for their future careers as well as to become functioning members of society, it is absolutely necessary for schools to concern themselves in building an environment that promotes political participation.