Young Voters Came Out Big In PA In 2022
Keystone State has seen nearly 20 percent increase in youth turnout since 2014
April 10, 2023
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Keystone State has seen nearly 20 percent increase in youth turnout since 2014
Young people came out and made their voice heard in the 2022 Pennsylvania elections with nearly 1 in 3 voters between the ages of 18-29 turning out to cast a ballot.
Those numbers come from new research released by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life. They are based on voter file data from 39 states for which age-specific voter file data has been aggregated by Catalist.
CIRCLE estimates that youth turnout ranged from as high as 37 percent in the state of Michigan, to as low as 13 percent in Tennessee.
Pennsylvania ranked sixth among the 39 states at 32 percent, trailing only Michigan (37%), Maine, Minnesota and Oregon (36%) and Colorado (33%). The Keystone State was one of only four states to have a higher youth turnout in 2022 than in 2018, along with Michigan, New York and Arkansas. In PA, MI and NY, Democrats won competitive statewide races for governor and/or U.S. Senate.
On the other end of the spectrum, Louisiana (16%), Oklahoma, Indiana, Alabama (15%) and West Virginia (14%) rivaled Tennessee’s total.
States bordering Pennsylvania with available data include Ohio (21.6%), New York (20.7%), New Jersey (20.6%), Delaware (18.7%) and West Virginia (14.2%).
CIRCLE’s analyses suggest that, along with issues and electoral competitiveness, election laws may be playing a central role in shaping whether youth cast a ballot in national elections.
These laws – which include Pennsylvania’s Act 77 adopted in 2019 – have lifted the Commonwealth’s youth turnout nearly 20 percentage points from a measly 12.2 percent in 2014 to 31.7% in 2022.
Can Pennsylvania lawmakers find examples of success stories from the higher-participating states to use as it looks to reform elections? The answer is yes, if the parties want to implement them.
Those states on the other end of the youth voter turnout spectrum are notable for their lack of facilitative voting and registration policies. Tennessee, Alabama and Oklahoma do not have same-day, automatic, or pre-registration, and the Sooner State is one of 10 in the country without fully online voter registration. The Volunteer State has a strict photo ID requirement to cast a regular ballot. Idaho banned the use of student IDs as a form of voter identification and Arkansas has banned ballot drop-off boxes.
“Young people continue to prove that they’ll turn out to vote to influence election results and have an impact on issues they care about,” says Abby Kiesa, CIRCLE’s deputy director. “But in some places, and for some youth, electoral policies and other structural factors can make that harder. It’s imperative to understand all young people’s interests, needs, and potential barriers in order to make sure they’re ready to vote in 2024 and in all future elections.”
Young people came out and made their voice heard in the 2022 Pennsylvania elections with nearly 1 in 3 voters between the ages of 18-29 turning out to cast a ballot.
Those numbers come from new research released by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life. They are based on voter file data from 39 states for which age-specific voter file data has been aggregated by Catalist.
CIRCLE estimates that youth turnout ranged from as high as 37 percent in the state of Michigan, to as low as 13 percent in Tennessee.
Pennsylvania ranked sixth among the 39 states at 32 percent, trailing only Michigan (37%), Maine, Minnesota and Oregon (36%) and Colorado (33%). The Keystone State was one of only four states to have a higher youth turnout in 2022 than in 2018, along with Michigan, New York and Arkansas. In PA, MI and NY, Democrats won competitive statewide races for governor and/or U.S. Senate.
On the other end of the spectrum, Louisiana (16%), Oklahoma, Indiana, Alabama (15%) and West Virginia (14%) rivaled Tennessee’s total.
States bordering Pennsylvania with available data include Ohio (21.6%), New York (20.7%), New Jersey (20.6%), Delaware (18.7%) and West Virginia (14.2%).
CIRCLE’s analyses suggest that, along with issues and electoral competitiveness, election laws may be playing a central role in shaping whether youth cast a ballot in national elections.
These laws – which include Pennsylvania’s Act 77 adopted in 2019 – have lifted the Commonwealth’s youth turnout nearly 20 percentage points from a measly 12.2 percent in 2014 to 31.7% in 2022.
Can Pennsylvania lawmakers find examples of success stories from the higher-participating states to use as it looks to reform elections? The answer is yes, if the parties want to implement them.
Those states on the other end of the youth voter turnout spectrum are notable for their lack of facilitative voting and registration policies. Tennessee, Alabama and Oklahoma do not have same-day, automatic, or pre-registration, and the Sooner State is one of 10 in the country without fully online voter registration. The Volunteer State has a strict photo ID requirement to cast a regular ballot. Idaho banned the use of student IDs as a form of voter identification and Arkansas has banned ballot drop-off boxes.
“Young people continue to prove that they’ll turn out to vote to influence election results and have an impact on issues they care about,” says Abby Kiesa, CIRCLE’s deputy director. “But in some places, and for some youth, electoral policies and other structural factors can make that harder. It’s imperative to understand all young people’s interests, needs, and potential barriers in order to make sure they’re ready to vote in 2024 and in all future elections.”
Young people came out and made their voice heard in the 2022 Pennsylvania elections with nearly 1 in 3 voters between the ages of 18-29 turning out to cast a ballot.
Those numbers come from new research released by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life. They are based on voter file data from 39 states for which age-specific voter file data has been aggregated by Catalist.
CIRCLE estimates that youth turnout ranged from as high as 37 percent in the state of Michigan, to as low as 13 percent in Tennessee.
Pennsylvania ranked sixth among the 39 states at 32 percent, trailing only Michigan (37%), Maine, Minnesota and Oregon (36%) and Colorado (33%). The Keystone State was one of only four states to have a higher youth turnout in 2022 than in 2018, along with Michigan, New York and Arkansas. In PA, MI and NY, Democrats won competitive statewide races for governor and/or U.S. Senate.
On the other end of the spectrum, Louisiana (16%), Oklahoma, Indiana, Alabama (15%) and West Virginia (14%) rivaled Tennessee’s total.
States bordering Pennsylvania with available data include Ohio (21.6%), New York (20.7%), New Jersey (20.6%), Delaware (18.7%) and West Virginia (14.2%).
CIRCLE’s analyses suggest that, along with issues and electoral competitiveness, election laws may be playing a central role in shaping whether youth cast a ballot in national elections.
These laws – which include Pennsylvania’s Act 77 adopted in 2019 – have lifted the Commonwealth’s youth turnout nearly 20 percentage points from a measly 12.2 percent in 2014 to 31.7% in 2022.
Can Pennsylvania lawmakers find examples of success stories from the higher-participating states to use as it looks to reform elections? The answer is yes, if the parties want to implement them.
Those states on the other end of the youth voter turnout spectrum are notable for their lack of facilitative voting and registration policies. Tennessee, Alabama and Oklahoma do not have same-day, automatic, or pre-registration, and the Sooner State is one of 10 in the country without fully online voter registration. The Volunteer State has a strict photo ID requirement to cast a regular ballot. Idaho banned the use of student IDs as a form of voter identification and Arkansas has banned ballot drop-off boxes.
“Young people continue to prove that they’ll turn out to vote to influence election results and have an impact on issues they care about,” says Abby Kiesa, CIRCLE’s deputy director. “But in some places, and for some youth, electoral policies and other structural factors can make that harder. It’s imperative to understand all young people’s interests, needs, and potential barriers in order to make sure they’re ready to vote in 2024 and in all future elections.”
Young people came out and made their voice heard in the 2022 Pennsylvania elections with nearly 1 in 3 voters between the ages of 18-29 turning out to cast a ballot.
Those numbers come from new research released by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life. They are based on voter file data from 39 states for which age-specific voter file data has been aggregated by Catalist.
CIRCLE estimates that youth turnout ranged from as high as 37 percent in the state of Michigan, to as low as 13 percent in Tennessee.
Pennsylvania ranked sixth among the 39 states at 32 percent, trailing only Michigan (37%), Maine, Minnesota and Oregon (36%) and Colorado (33%). The Keystone State was one of only four states to have a higher youth turnout in 2022 than in 2018, along with Michigan, New York and Arkansas. In PA, MI and NY, Democrats won competitive statewide races for governor and/or U.S. Senate.
On the other end of the spectrum, Louisiana (16%), Oklahoma, Indiana, Alabama (15%) and West Virginia (14%) rivaled Tennessee’s total.
States bordering Pennsylvania with available data include Ohio (21.6%), New York (20.7%), New Jersey (20.6%), Delaware (18.7%) and West Virginia (14.2%).
CIRCLE’s analyses suggest that, along with issues and electoral competitiveness, election laws may be playing a central role in shaping whether youth cast a ballot in national elections.
These laws – which include Pennsylvania’s Act 77 adopted in 2019 – have lifted the Commonwealth’s youth turnout nearly 20 percentage points from a measly 12.2 percent in 2014 to 31.7% in 2022.
Can Pennsylvania lawmakers find examples of success stories from the higher-participating states to use as it looks to reform elections? The answer is yes, if the parties want to implement them.
Those states on the other end of the youth voter turnout spectrum are notable for their lack of facilitative voting and registration policies. Tennessee, Alabama and Oklahoma do not have same-day, automatic, or pre-registration, and the Sooner State is one of 10 in the country without fully online voter registration. The Volunteer State has a strict photo ID requirement to cast a regular ballot. Idaho banned the use of student IDs as a form of voter identification and Arkansas has banned ballot drop-off boxes.
“Young people continue to prove that they’ll turn out to vote to influence election results and have an impact on issues they care about,” says Abby Kiesa, CIRCLE’s deputy director. “But in some places, and for some youth, electoral policies and other structural factors can make that harder. It’s imperative to understand all young people’s interests, needs, and potential barriers in order to make sure they’re ready to vote in 2024 and in all future elections.”
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