In 2020, young people showed up for democracy.
Every Hoosier county reported over 50% of those registered voted, a record not achieved since 1992. This year, the vote among 18-29 years old increased by about 10%. According to Tufts University’s CIRCLE non-partisan research center on youth civic engagement, young voters were 52-56% of all votes cast.
“Lax voters” is what Asmaa Khalid (NPR) called young adults in 2016. Their registration and voting numbers have dropped since 1972. But 2018’s youth vote climbed, hinting at a change and 2020 was hopefully more than a flash.
Will 2020 numbers become bottled lightning? How can we make voting one of those valued civic duties? Among young adults we need to support a robust, healthy ecology of democratic enfranchisement of young people. (Every disaggregated group we can analyze deserves the same care and feeding.) It starts with education because every vote should be informed.
This year educators invited young students to practice healthy voting habits. Hoosier teachers in many schools teamed up with Indiana lawyers to conduct the Indiana Kids Election At Northridge Middle School, the Social Studies department hosted its own mock presidential election. Jodi Webster (sixth grade), Lincoln Kyle (seventh grade) and Daniel Martin (eighth grade) set up computer stations during Advisory Hour on Nov. 3, recruited student poll workers, and taught grade-level lessons on democracy, issues and candidates to educate student voters. The teachers noted how viral (and socially positive) the selfies with stickers had become, so they requested enough for the student body. Those who voted were still sporting the stickers weeks after the election.
Thanks to the Secretary of State, high schoolers could volunteer through the Hoosier Hall Pass program. Now 16- and 17-year-old high school students can work the polls, giving them experience even before they vote. Joe Poteet (NMHS) and Sean Gerold (CHS) referred students like Allyson Barton and Marshall Horton to Karyn Douglas. Younger workers, Karyn Douglas noted, are at home around the technology and energetic. Barton and Horton stayed busy helping voters feel comfortable with the machines that print ballots. It surprised both that many older adults were voting for the first time and that some could not vote because they had not registered. Barton, a senior, also voted for the first time. She enjoyed being able to initiate the younger high school volunteers into the process.
Election procedures and regulations can be eye opening. For one, the check-in and ballot initialing stations require both a Republican and Democrat to ensure non-partisanship. One advantage of non-voting high school poll workers is that they can work as either Republicans or Democrats in the varied stations. Strikingly, many young voters may seem “lax” because they prefer to avoid divisive political tensions.
Young adults tend to care more about issues than political parties. While Gen Z and Millenials have been called out for dodging partisanship, we have lauded their organization on key issues. In the past four years, young adults organized the March for Our Lives and Global Climate Strikes. They’ve marched (peacefully) with the social justice demonstrations this summer. They act on their values and ideals, not party affiliation. Horton showed up for the social justice rallies in Crawfordsville this summer because he wants a healthy interracial community here in Montgomery county. His younger sister was born in Ethiopia and is adopted. He plans to work with our local BLM organization, as is safe, to promote equality.
Perhaps the bump in youth engagement is due to 2020 being such an anomalous year. The COVID pandemic interrupted every aspect of life. Young adults like Horton lost a year of their youth to the pandemic.
COVID affected social justice demonstrations, and further strained and divided our democratic union. Allyson Barton noticed that her social media boiled over with divisive, often inaccurate information and opinions. As the daughter of a nurse and Mayor Barton, she heard enough around home to seek more credible sources in order to be educated to vote. She reported that it might have helped to have guided discussions at school as early as her freshman year. It takes preparation to do one’s civic duty, even more so during this unprecedented year in politics. Many young people find the bickering, the name-calling, the inaccuracies are all too much to navigate. They volunteer. They’re excited to vote. They want to know how to best educate themselves. They have a vision for better communities and our future.
Barton’s advice was to “know what you believe and vote for what you believe in.”
For some, civic engagement is being an educated voter. Others want to stand for or volunteer for a specific cause they value. Others will go into politics. In a healthy ecosystem, young people will know what to do before they turn 18. They will be enfranchised to take part through education, voting, marching, volunteering, and even running for office.
More 18-29-year-olds voted in the 2018 election than previous midterm elections for decades. One in five of the 91 freshman elected were Millennials. We should support young Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Green Party, American Solidarity Party and Independents to run because they represent the broad values in our diverse democracy. What strengthens democracy is robust engagement from everyone.
The League of Women Voters, a non-partisan, multi-issue organization encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase public understanding of major policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy. All men and women are invited to join the LWV where hands-on work to safeguard democracy leads to civic improvement. For information about the League, visit the website www.lwvmontco.org or voice mail 765-361-2136.
