CIRCLE survey data suggests young people in rural communities need more than access to information and opportunities: they need support to vote and take civic action.  

Supporting Youth, Creating Opportunity, and Strengthening Democracy

Youth's voting preferences in the midterm election were shaped by their identities and experiences

These excerpts are part of CIRCLE's 2021 Youth Expertise Series, in which young people share ideas for how to fulfill the promise of the 26th Amendment.

Our research finds a big gap between the vote choice of young white voters and young voters of color in rural areas/small towns.

In half of the states ranked in the top 10 of our Youth Electoral Significance Index, at least a third of the population lives in rural areas.

This is part of our Youth Expertise Series, in which young people use their experiences to write about how we can improve youth civic engagement and civic life.

Youth who live in places where they perceive few opportunities for civic engagement see fewer political ads, which is connected to lower voter turnout.

This research, which originally appeared in The Conversation, outlines our merging study of "civic deserts" and the challenge they present to engaging young people.