Data regarding young adult voter turnout in general elections can help predict the 18-35 year old demographic’s involvement in the upcoming Los Angeles County municipal election on March 7.
According to a US Census Bureau study of presidential elections held between 1964 to 2012, young adults ages 18 to 24 have consistently voted in lower rates than any other age group.
A Pew Research Center study revealed that millennials, adults ages 18 to 35, hold a voting power of 69.2 million citizens as of April 2016; however, the same study also states the highest impact the group has had in election results was during the 2008 presidential election, when former President Barack Obama beat Republican candidate John McCain. But even then, the turnout for the group was 50 percent.
If this data is any indication of whether or not young people, more specifically, college students, will participate in the smaller-scale election coming up on March 7, the forecast looks dry at the polling places.
“If there’s one thing that’s true, it’s that young people don’t vote,” said Kevin Wallsten, associate political science professor at Cal State Long Beach.
Walking around the CSULB campus, seldom is a conversation heard regarding the municipal elections.
“I voted in November, but I’ve never actually voted in a municipal election,” said senior criminal justice major Kevin Ramirez. “I know what it is, but I’ve never felt compelled to vote.”
So, what could compel young college students to vote in local elections?
Wallsten is skeptical of changes in young voter turnout trends, even with the current fervor of polarized political opinions many college students engage with daily.
Instead, he believes that growing older and having more voting experience will ultimately have the biggest influence on a person’s inclination to vote.
“Older people vote more. Once you move to a place and have a stable address for a while, and you feel like you have a larger stake in election results, then you vote. Once you vote, you never stop,” Wallsten said.