Clean and Prosperous America
Young Voter Research: Pennsylvania
August 2022
Lancaster and Dauphin County Poll Results
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Pollster-Briefing-Lancaster_Dauphin-County-Results
Links to other relevant surveys are here:
The Youth Electorate Has the Potential to Decide Elections in Pennsylvania
CIRCLE, Tisch College at Tufts University
- As of June 2022, there are 7% fewer young people (ages 18-24) in PA registered to vote than at the same point in the previous midterm election cycle, per a Tufts University report. Among newly eligible voters ages 18-19, the picture is bleaker; voter registrations in June 2022 trail the June 2018 pace by 46%.
“Young people of color in Pennsylvania, where close to 25% of the population is nonwhite, may be especially influential. In CIRCLE’s 2020 election-week analysis of county-level data, we found that… in counties with more youth of color, President Biden’s vote share was twice as high as counties with a low proportion of youth of color (54% and 28%, respectively).”
How to Drastically Increase Youth Voter Participation and Reduce Inequities in Turnout
CIRCLE, Tisch College at Tufts University
- Lack of Information = Lack of Registration: 22% of youth, ages 18-21, who were not registered to vote in the 2020 election said they didn’t know how to do it.
“This report underscores what we’ve learned in two decades of research on youth political engagement: young people have the potential and the desire to lead at the ballot box and beyond,” says Abby Kiesa, deputy director of CIRCLE. “But, as a country, we haven’t given them all the opportunities and the support to fulfill that potential, or we’ve done it for some youth while leaving others neglected by our democratic institutions.”
Mobilizing youth voters as we approach the midterms
Rise/Murmuration/Voto Latino
- 53% of youth voters either incorrectly identify the next Congressional elections or don’t know when they are, per a national survey from Rise/Murmuration/Voto Latino
“The thousands of youth we talked to have made it clear that not enough campaigns or civic organizations are reaching and inspiring them,” said Max Lubin, CEO of Rise, Inc. “After turning out in historic numbers in 2018 and 2020, young people want to lead change once again, but need more support and outreach from groups on the ground to make their voices heard.”