2020 Election
We're sharing comprehensive data and analyses on young people's participation and influence on the 2020 election.
Youth Voting in 2020
The 2020 election cycle was unprecedented: young people coped with a pandemic, took to the streets, and cast early ballots in record numbers. Our in-depth analyses of youth participating we're providing data and insights on their engagement and impact at every level in the 2020 election.
K-12 Civics
CIRCLE Director Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg served as principal investigator of this effort to transform civic education in America.
Educating for American Democracy
Preparing all young people to be engaged and effective participants in their communities and in democracy requires more than just reinvesting in civic education: it requires reshaping it to meet the needs of a diverse 21st century student body.
2020 Youth Poll
Our post-election survey of young people highlights their electoral engagement in 2020 and their issue priorities for the new administration.
Poll: Youth Poised to Keep Engaging
Young Americans hit the streets, talked politics, engaged their peers, and had a likely historic level of voter turnout in 2020. Our exclusive post-election youth poll looks back on their political participation in 2020 and highlights the issues that motivate them to continued engagement in civic life.
Youth Data Tool
CIRCLE's exclusive online tool includes more than 40 indicators at the national, state, district, and county levels.
Youth Voting and Civic Engagement in America
To what extent are young people across the country participating in civic and political life, and what are the community conditions that help, hinder, and shape that engagement? Our comprehensive data tool allows you to better understand the landscape of youth civic engagement so you can help improve it.
Latest Research
Keeping Youth Engaged From the Primaries to the General
What the "Bernie or Bust" phenomenon teaches us about working to ensure that young people remain engaged even if their preferred candidate does not prevail in the primaries.
Understanding the Benefits of Young People Serving as Poll Workers
Through a partnership in Minneapolis, we studied how youth gain skills, contribute to their communities, and increase youth turnout by working at the polls.
Interactive Game Co-Developed by CIRCLE Combines Civics, History, and Musicals
Civics! An American Musical guides students to learn about historical events, understand their civic impact, and create a virtual show.
Half of Youth Voted in 2020, An 11-Point Increase from 2016
Our analysis of youth voter turnout nationwide finds wide variation between states and underscores the importance of electoral laws and policies that help grow voters.
Young People Created Media to Uplift their Voices in 2020
Black and Latino youth were especially active in creating and sharing content on social platforms about the 2020 election or issues they care about.
CIRCLE in the News
Chris Evans Was Captain America. Now He Wants to Help Gen Z Reshape US Politics
Newsweek
Further increases may be in store for future elections, says CIRCLE Deputy Director Abby Kiesa. The 2020 increase was particularly outsized among 18- and 19-year-olds, suggesting they and the sub-18 voters who will come of age in 2022 and 2024 may bring a fresh surge in numbers centered on ever-younger voters.
It's Been a Year: The View from a Youth Activist
YR Media
45 percent of young people in a recent CIRCLE poll said they took concrete action for racial justice in 2020 while 29 percent participated in a march or demonstration.
An ‘Army of 16-Year-Olds’ Takes On the Democrats
The New York Times
In Massachusetts, the turnout among registered voters between 18 to 24 had shot up to 20.9 percent in the 2020 primary from 6.7 percent in 2018, and 2.1 percent in 2016, according to Tufts’ Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.