Benjamin Donovan

Connector Contributor

According to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE), young people’s participation in elections dropped in 2024. Young people ages 18-29, only 47% of them participated in the 2024 Presidential election, 3% lower than the 50% that did in the 2020 election. This begs the question of why young adults choose not to vote in elections. Local elections often have low voter turnouts, often due to being less publicized than national elections.

The lack of publicization of local elections causes many young voters to be less informed, causing them to not vote in local elections as they do not know enough about a candidate to truly vote for them. Local elections are just as if not more important than national elections. Local governments have the power to regulate and decide what one’s city can do regarding issues such as housing, schools, and local law enforcement. Local governments handle essential services for everyday lives of those living within their jurisdiction. Electing officials in local governments is crucial, and even a way for young adults to get used to voting in elections.

The 26^th Amendment of the United States Constitution lowered the permitted minimum voting age from 21 to 18, nationwide. This Amendment was ratified on July 1, 1971, in the midst of widespread of anti-war protests, fighting against American troops fighting in Vietnam, many arguing that if 18 is old enough to fight in a war, then that is old enough to vote. The Amendment ensures that no state can deny the right to vote for any citizen 18 years of age or older.

When asked about the importance of voting in elections, Dr. John Cluverius, an associate Political Science professor at UMass Lowell, with an expertise in American Politics and Political Methodology, said “I think that voting is something that is a civic duty that people have. The power to influence your government is something that people have fought for in both wars and violent conflicts and profoundly organized political action that has reverberated across the world.” Voting is arguably the biggest way citizens can have influence on their government, which is the very foundation of the U.S. government is supposed to be based on.

Cluverius also discussed the topic of why young adults choose not to vote, pointing at the minimum age to be in the House of Representatives is 25, but there is no age maximum and there are not a lot of 25-year-olds in Congress. He argues that with a lot of members of Congress or government offices in general, have a lot of older people that are not reaching out to young voters and giving them a reason to vote for them. Cluverius believes that if candidates and officials can get younger people to be more involved there would be a stronger turnout. He stated “If people want young people to vote, give young people something to vote for.”

Celia Canavan, the Executive Director of the League of Women’s Voters of Massachusetts (LWVMA), also made statements on why young adults choose not to vote. Canavan, who is Gen Z herself, discusses that there is a fatigue among young voters for a long time as each election is referred to “the election of a lifetime.” The idea that every election is going to be the biggest election the country has ever seen, makes young adults more tired and annoyed at having to participate in elections. Canavan says “I think where young people are getting disconnected is that there’s this perceived reality that November is going to completely change your life immediately. And then there’s the actual reality of we have a lot of damage control to do and there’s a lot of coming together and the political division in this country being as deep as it is.”

Young adults often may not choose to vote also because they are not told enough about the importance of it. A way that this can be solved is by more encouragement from parents, teachers, or any adult figures for young adults to educate them on the importance of elections. That the duty to vote and the importance of it should be discussed more in classrooms, to get kids to understand it and once they get to be of voting age they will be more willing to vote.

Massachusetts State Representative Sean Garballey for the 23rd Middlesex District, representing Arlington and West Medford, has stated that educating kids on civic duties is a way to get them to develop the habit of voting. “I think in our classrooms we’re not as serious as we should be about civics, and creating the positive habits that get developed to create lifelong voters, who are interested in voting, in participating. I think young people are kind of told that their opinion doesn’t matter as much as older people, that they’re young and they’re inexperienced, and maybe naïve” says Garballey.

Garballey has been working on a piece of legislation for a decade that would lower the voting age for local elections to 16 years old. Garballey believes that if you create this habit of voting, starting with local elections, when an individual is 16 or 17 years old, that when they reach 18 and can vote nationally, the habit of voting will already be there. When Garballey was 20 years old he won a seat on the Arlington School Committee, and when he was 22 he got elected to the Massachusetts House. Garballey describes the experience “when I would knock on doors people would say ‘oh you’re too young. I have shoes older than you,’ you know whatever to demean a young person from running for office or being involved.”

Despite minimum ages to be a member of a State House of Representatives varying on each state ranging from ages 18-25, there is still this perceived notion that some people are “too young” to be involved in politics. While votes from older adults are just as important, the discouragement for young voters, convincing them that their vote does not matter or that they are too young to understand the world is a major factor in what gets them to not vote. Candidates and politicians that are running for offices, local or national, should start to encourage young adults to participate in voting, to give them a reason to vote for them. Especially since even if it does not seem like it to those that do not have any involvement in politics, the government’s decisions and laws affect everyone.

This year, general elections will be on November 3, including a U.S. Senate seat for Massachusetts as well as many local elections around the Commonwealth. This year has many great opportunities to start voting.