Young People Want to Vote. So How Do We Get Them to the Polls?

By Haseeb Khan of Forbes

The United States has one of the lowest rates of youth voter turnout in the world. The gap between 18 to 29-year-olds and those over 60, a common measuring stick, is more than twice as large in the US than it is in comparable democracies, like Canada and Germany.

US voter turnout by age Voters under 30 are less likely to vote than voters over 30 and voters over 60 are the most likely to make it to the polls during general elections. 18-29 30-44 45-59 60+ 30% 7\" W 5'3 /\\/'-\\' 50 4o 30 20 1933 1990 1992 1994 1995 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 Chart: The Conversation, CC-BY-ND - Source: United States Election Project - Get the data Voting intentions vs. actual voting by young US citizens A much bigger share of Americans between 18 and 30 intend to cast a ballot than carry through with it. - Interested in elections - Intended to vote - Voted 100% 80 60 40 20 0 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 Chart: The Conversation, CC-BY-ND . Source: American National Election Studies . Get the dataGap between the youngest and oldest voters The voter turnout rate for Americans under 30 is 38 percentage points below the rate for Americans over 60. This gap is more than double the size of that disparity in similar democracies, like Canada and Germany. Gap US 37.74 Bulgaria 31.09 UK 22.81 Germany 18.48 Canada 15.65 Norway 14.01 Mexico 6.05 Iceland 3.36 Australia 2.1 Brazil -4.14 Chart: The Conversation, CC-BY-ND . Source: Comparative Study of Electoral Systems . Get the data