Recently, Virginia Rep. Don Beyer introduced legislation that would allow 16-year-olds nationwide to preregister to vote. Such legislation could improve voter turnout, establish voting patterns early on for students, and help states and the country realize the goal of full democratic participation.
The United States typically suffers low voter turnout, with a national turnout of only 36.3 percent for midterm elections in 2014 (the worst voter turnout in 72 years). Young voters are notoriously apathetic; compared with the rest of the population — with the exception of the 2008 presidential election — 18 to 24-year-olds vote in much smaller numbers than their older counterparts. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, voting rates among 18 to 24-year-olds have been decreasing since 1964. This is due to a number of factors, but is concerning nonetheless.
At the University, we see our own disturbing trends of voter turnout: in last year’s student elections, only 30.8 percent of the student body voted. That number was five points lower in 2014.
The new legislation would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to fill out voter registration forms in advance, automatically adding them to voter rolls once they turn 18. While this would streamline registration processes — and ensure young voters don’t miss registration deadlines in the states that have them — it could also encourage civic engagement from a young age. According to a 2009 study, there has been a modest increase in youth voter participation in the states where teenagers can preregister to vote. But by partnering with public schools and “get out the vote” campaigns, that modest increase could become a substantial one.
If this legislation passes, high schools can and should take a more active role in encouraging voter participation, since a larger portion of high schools’ student bodies will be eligible to register. By planting the idea of voting in students’ minds early on, we can establish patterns that may lead to increases in voter turnout over time — something our country, state and even our own University desperately need.
Voting is one of the few ways we have to participate in broader decision-making, and preparing young adults to vote from a younger age could instill a sense of importance in voting that newer generations seem not to share with older ones. And there is another benefit here, too: teenagers are classified as juveniles until the age of 18, when they (rather arbitrarily) become adults. We should aim to prepare juveniles for adulthood more vigorously, stressing the importance of civic engagement as a tremendous benefit of their new given label. Voting is a right and a responsibility, and young adults need preparation and, it appears, a push to see the merit in it. Allowing preregistration is not a fix-all, but it is a good first step to turning a bad trend around.
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