• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

"Within The Early Voting Boom, Evidence Of Youth Turnout Surging"

Chrome Hyena

Chrome Hyena

Member
Oct 30, 2017
8,768
www.npr.org

Within The Early Voting Boom, Youth Turnout Seems To Be Surging

More than 6 million voters under 30 have cast early ballots, compared with roughly 2 million at the same time in 2016. The number of first-time voters in that group has doubled in four years.
www.npr.org www.npr.org

More than 6 million voters under the age of 30 have already cast early ballots, according to the Democratic data firm, TargetSmart, compared to roughly 2 million early votes at the same time in 2016. And, according to TargetSmart CEO Tom Bonier, the number of early voters under the age of 30 who are voting for the first time in their life is more than double the number of first-time voters at this point in the 2016 election.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The groundswell of early voting among young people is visible in a number of the key states that both parties are targeting in this campaign.

The figures are particularly dramatic in Texas, a state that has been known for low overall rates of voter participation, including among young voters. But turnout among young Texans skyrocketed in 2018, and an analysis of early voting suggests that young voters in that state could be on pace to set records this year. More than 800,000 voters under the age of 30 have already voted in Texas, and 66% of them did not vote in 2016.

In Florida, where both President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are expected to travel in the campaign's closing days, more than 514,000 young voters have cast their ballot already, hundreds of thousands more than had done so in a similar period ahead of the 2016 election.

This year, Pennsylvania joined more than 30 other states in allowing voting by mail for any reason, also known as no-excuse absentee voting. And like in other states, early voting among the youngest segment of the electorate is on the rise. Already, more than 176,000 young Americans have cast ballots there.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

So it REALLY feels like something huge is happening. This looks like the year that the mythical "young people vote" actually shows up. these are people born from 1990 to 2002. If they continue to vote at this pace, they'll be a real force come elections. Good job young people.

Also the Texas numbers are DRAMATIC. I really feel like its gonna turn this election, on the backs of the young.
 
adj_noun

adj_noun

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
17,182
MqbVZ8ENczIg4iHe7f_zQiPE4VMHWa2Qrimn6sqnR3gPRCnDPufNM3cr2LKEPMwXDfwg2TLAT5d-a6o-LmFIiJgdWl32OaKhY33M5Y_dPh7O8AAzaSzibQ
 

Zache

Unshakable Resolve
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
2,780
I'm sure they're all and turning out voting for fucking TRUMP
 
Dreams-Visions

Dreams-Visions

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
41,368
Miami, FL
Early voting + constant pressure over the last two months from literally everywhere to just do it probably scales well among younger voters. Every channel, and damn near every YTer and Twitch streamer has been saying the same thing: vote. I imagine this is far more effective than asking young people to have to show up on a single day and date.

I imagine it's all strengthened by the fact that there are demonstrably fewer distractions to take their attention away from the election.
 
Dark Knight

Dark Knight

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,271
Dreams-Visions said:
I imagine it's all strengthened by the fact that there are demonstrably fewer distractions to take their attention away from the election.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Not to mention we are here today, with fettered and chained social interaction that has perverted the youth experience, BECAUSE of the Trump admin's callous inaction.
 
Feep

Feep

Lead Designer, Iridium Studios
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
4,596
Doing my part to get the, uh, kinnies, out to the...poggers...jesus christ I don't know

 
Nacho

Nacho

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,111
NYC
Bizarre how making voting more accessible through mail in and early sites leads to more people voting.
 
Soda

Soda

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,859
Dunedin, New Zealand
Zache said:
Just a poor joke. I remember when there was talk(even here) about how Zoomers were going to be a conservative generation, lol.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

For the most part, demographic data indicates that zoomers and millenials are largely liberal/progressive. This hasn't really changed as millenials have aged, as far as I recall, so the old "You'll be conservative when you're older" line doesn't seem to apply here.
 
Nacho

Nacho

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,111
NYC
Zache said:
Texas didn't even do that and youth turnout is up like 600%
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
You know what, that's a very good point. Glad to see that Dems have made a true effort in certain places once considered GOP strongholds. It's paying off big time, even if not this election, down the road Texas being a battleground state in our lifetime is fucking amazing. And all of it in spite of GOP efforts to curtail voting.
 
Ultimate Bear Cub

Ultimate Bear Cub

Member
Mar 30, 2019
9,058
They once said I looked under 30...and I didn't correct them.
...
Anyway, keep voting you yutes. Or I will be kicking names and taking ass.
 
MayorSquirtle

MayorSquirtle

Member
May 17, 2018
7,931
I'm cautiously optimistic but I really wish people would chill with all these direct comparisons to 2016's early vote as if they're apples-to-apples when they're definitely not. The pandemic and the partisan divide over early voting has massively shifted voter intentions on when and how they'll vote this year, and we simply have no clue if youth turnout will also be way up on election day or if they're simply voting earlier than they would in a typical year. It's also possible that even with these bigger raw numbers, youth voters won't increase as a share of the electorate because every other age group turns out more as well.
I really fucking hope we'll see record breaking youth turnout but I'm gonna wait until the dust settles and we can see the full picture before popping bottles.
 
Reym

Reym

Member
Jul 15, 2019
2,655
Soda said:
For the most part, demographic data indicates that zoomers and millenials are largely liberal/progressive. This hasn't really changed as millenials have aged, as far as I recall, so the old "You'll be conservative when you're older" line doesn't seem to apply here.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I laugh a bit every time I think of that line, since it's largely been the opposite for me.
I thought I was fairly liberal when I was younger, but I've been getting more and more progressive as I've aged and I'm shocked at how conservative some of my views were when I was younger.
 
gblues

gblues

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,482
Tigard, OR
I think this is pretty clear evidence that capitalism is a form of voter suppression. Because 18-30 crowd is most likely to have jobs that eat all their time. And with a significant portion now unemployed, they have time to actually participate in politics.
 
Davidion

Davidion

Charitable King
Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,070
Hopefully it leans left. There would be both the immediately benefit of helping winning the election for Biden, but also that of the youth vote more consistently shifting the overall political conversation/overton window leftwards.
 
Muu

Muu

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
1,963
gblues said:
I think this is pretty clear evidence that capitalism is a form of voter suppression. Because 18-30 crowd is most likely to have jobs that eat all their time. And with a significant portion now unemployed, they have time to actually participate in politics.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yes, an election day holiday would be huge in terms of assisting w/ young voter turnout.
 
InspectorJones

InspectorJones

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,621
Where were they when Bernie needed them?

A little sour; but it's nice they're showing up for the general election, but I have a feeling that history will repeat and they won't be there for the midterms.
 
Whipwhopper

Whipwhopper

Member
Oct 7, 2020
859
gblues said:
I think this is pretty clear evidence that capitalism is a form of voter suppression. Because 18-30 crowd is most likely to have jobs that eat all their time. And with a significant portion now unemployed, they have time to actually participate in politics.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Ehhhh....people could have done mail in ballots still.
 
CitizenVectron

CitizenVectron

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,398
gblues said:
I think this is pretty clear evidence that capitalism is a form of voter suppression. Because 18-30 crowd is most likely to have jobs that eat all their time. And with a significant portion now unemployed, they have time to actually participate in politics.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It's only a form of voter suppression if alternative voting options (like early voting periods, mail-in ballots, etc) are not options.
 
gblues

gblues

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,482
Tigard, OR
Whipwhopper said:
Ehhhh....people could have done mail in ballots still.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Depends on the state.

Oregon is making progress:
- Voter registration happens automatically when you renew your ID/driver's license
- ballots are mailed out proactively; you don't have to request one specially
- a voter's pamphlet provides the details of the candidates/ballot measures and pro/con arguments
- signatures are verified when the ballot arrives, so on election day the only thing to do is run the ballots through the tally machines

However, you still have the mental capacity to be able to do things like actually read the voter's pamphlet, make decisions, fill out the ballot, and mail it/drop it off. The effect of capitalism is to overwhelm people's executive functions by making them too exhausted to tackle these tasks.

Making election day a holiday is a good thing, but it only helps those whose only blocker to voting is logistics. It doesn't help with the exhaustion issue that affects even wanting to go vote in the first place.
 
WascallyWabbit

WascallyWabbit

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,399
Isn't this demo unlikely to get polled as they are not "likely voters"?
Can't imagine they'd be anywhere to close to majority R during this election, though
 
GYODX

GYODX

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,234
Dreams-Visions said:
Early voting + constant pressure over the last two months from literally everywhere to just do it probably scales well among younger voters. Every channel, and damn near every YTer and Twitch streamer has been saying the same thing: vote. I imagine this is far more effective than asking young people to have to show up on a single day and date.

I imagine it's all strengthened by the fact that there are demonstrably fewer distractions to take their attention away from the election.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Agree with all of this. We're seeing this "go vote!" message everywhere. The messaging has been relentless.

About time, too.
 
Muu

Muu

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
1,963
Cat Party said:
Universal vote by mail would be even better, and also cost less.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

A federal election day holiday would be pretty easy to implement vs getting all states on board w/ vote by mail. I do agree vote by mail is the way to go (I live in Oregon so that's how I've voted the last 8yrs or so).
 
Rats

Rats

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,111
I guess this is the first time I'm not part of the "youth vote."

Damn kids. *shakes fist oldly*
 
King Kingo

King Kingo

Banned
Dec 3, 2019
7,656
It's almost as if the exposure of Donald Trump's dribble for four years on Twitter had made young voters realise that they have the power to get rid of him.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.