"Indicators of youth engagement in a midterm election are pretty good, relatively speaking," said CIRCLE Deputy Director Abby Kiesa.

According to CIRCLE, the slow pace of newly eligible voter registrations in dozens of states is “a call to action for campaigns and organizers” who want to engage young people in the democratic process.

In about half of states where reliable data is available, meanwhile, researchers flagged that the number of 18-to-24-year-olds who were registered to vote in June is lagging behind the 2018 pace, especially for freshly eligible ballot casters.

Our deputy director Abby Kiesa writes that the fight over abortion rights now taking place in states has strong potential to motivate and mobilize young voters on both sides of the issue.

Recent polling has found that 40% of youth, especially women, describe the top court’s decision ending the federally guaranteed right to abortion as making them more likely to vote in this year’s midterms.

Young voters played a huge role in shifting swing states in the 2020 presidential election, helping to lead Biden to victory with a 25-point lead among young voters.

High-profile social issues have been a major driver in youth engagement in recent election years, according to a May report from CIRCLE.

A poll by CIRCLE, a research group attached to Tufts University, found that a staggering 78% of Asian-Americans aged between 18 and 29 supported Mr Biden in 2020, 20 points more than young voters nationally.

CIRCLE Growing Voters details a framework that activates people well before they turn 18 by addressing inequities in civic education and works to keep ironing out those imbalances through year-round engagement.

A new report from researchers at the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University finds that the problem may not lie with young voters themselves... the civic education and engagement we expect to solve access issues can actually reinforce inequalities and influence who shows up at the polls.

Survey results from the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University confirm the benefits of civic engagement. Specifically, about 70% of student election judges learned “a great deal” about the voting process.

According to CIRCLE’s data analysis, “many young people have not been taught about elections and voting; both the practicalities of registering and casting a ballot and the reasons why their voices and votes matter in democracy."