Wisconsin ranks highly in CIRCLE’s Youth Electoral Significance Index (YESI), a tool that highlights states and districts in which young people have the highest potential to influence the 2024 election results.

A CIRCLE white paper uses 2020-2021 voting and registration data to evaluate the impact of various laws in improving equity in participation.

Young people in the state have been influential in recent elections, but they may need support to overcome changes in election laws.

A handful of states have made voter registration easier, but others have implemented new voter ID requirements or rolled back vote by mail.

Many of the states with high youth voter turnout in the 2022 midterm elections had strong policies that make it easier to register and vote.

Data from our post-election survey suggests that youth in states with facilitative electoral laws may have faced fewer barriers to vote.

Some states have made registering to vote and casting a ballot easier in recent years, while others have implemented new restrictive policies

In more than half of states where data is available, there are more youth ages 18-24 registered to vote than in 2018. But the numbers among teens ages 18-19 are less positive.

In recent elections, young people's participation in this perennially competitive state has been strong, and could be decisive in 2022 if youth are supported.

The Wisconsin governor's race is #1 in our Youth Electoral Significance Index ranking of elections where youth can have a decisive impact.