Youth Voting and Elections

Elections are a valuable opportunity for young people across the country to make their voices heard, support action on issues they care about, and grow as active voters and leaders. While it is far from the only way youth can engage in their communities and effect change, it is a vital instrument of democratic participation.

But youth continue to vote at lower rates than older adults, opportunities and support for electoral participation have not been accessible and equitable for young people. That has resulted in stubborn, ongoing inequities in voter turnout by race/ethnicity, educational attainment, rurality, and other factors that prevent us from having a truly representative electorate and democracy.

CIRCLE's research on youth voting and elections serves to illuminate and address these inequities, while also shining a light on young people's extraordinary power when they register and vote.

Explore our research on the upcoming and recent national elections.