Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, many young people seem to have lost faith in the democratic process. Some plan to avoid voting entirely, unimpressed by both Democratic candidate Joe Biden and Republican candidate Donald Trump.
The voter turnout under age 30 has increased in recent presidential elections. The 2020 and 2018 elections each logged “unusually high turnout” among young voters, said estimates from the University of Florida’s Michael McDonald cited by The Washington Post. Youth participation was record-breaking in 2020, even higher than in the 2008 election, which Barack Obama won after securing 66% of the under-30 vote. But a fall 2023 poll released by the Harvard Kennedy School indicated that young Americans are less likely to vote in 2024. “At this point in the 2020 election cycle, 57% of Americans between ages 18 and 29 were planning to vote; that number has since declined to 49%,” said Teen Vogue.
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