Young people were often dismissed as "unlikely voters," says Alberto Medina, spokesman for Tufts University's Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. But "this is a generation that has really arrived, in terms of their political power and participation.

CIRCLE estimates that young people, ages 18-29, had historically high voter turnout in 2018 and 2020, and they could have a major impact on the upcoming midterm election results.

“We have to engage young people as stakeholders and leaders in democracy. And that’s going to look totally different for different types of youth," said CIRCLE's Alberto Medina

CIRCLE data on the 2020 youth vote in Georgia informs this podcast about the power and influence of young Black voters in recent elections and on the 2022 midterms.

Tufts’ Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement recently cited data that concludes that states with facilitative election laws clearly have higher youth voter participation rates

Young Americans, too, have been registering at higher numbers this election season, says Abby Kiesa, deputy director of Tufts University's Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).

"A lot of young people have the intention to vote, just as many if not more than in 2018. And I think that young people are definitely attuned to a lot of the really big issues — abortion obviously being one of them.”

According to data analyzed by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University, voter registration among young people trails the midpoint of 2018 in about half the states.

To see almost twice as much voter turnout compared to the prediction, I have to believe young people played a role in that,” said CIRCLE Director Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg about the recent primary election and referendum in Kansas.

In surveys around the 2020 election, CIRCLE, a civic research shop at Tufts University, found that 13% of people ages 18 to 29 marked climate change as their top concern, the most of any issue.

“Youth often have few people talking directly to them about politics, helping them make those connections with the issues they care about," says CIRCLE Deputy Director Abby Kiesa

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