Op-Ed: The neglect of younger voters is a lost opportunity for political parties (via latimesopinion)
With Democrats having dodged the highly anticipated “red wave” of defeat, the president’s comments — and others subsequently being made by political pundits — imply turnout by youth made a difference for the party. Sixty-two percentsupported Democratic House candidates, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University.
This lopsided attention to older voters has significant consequences and is a large part of why turnout disparities by age have become entrenched in our electoral system. Even though youth turnout was higher this midterm, it was still low compared with overall voter turnout — only 27% of those age 18-29 cast ballots.
For these reasons, it’s quite rational why many younger voters don’t feel compelled to participate in the electoral process. Our system largely ignores them and the issues they care about, discouraging involvement. And so the vicious cycle repeats, one election to the next. Campaigns and candidates rarely make the connection between the act of voting and the issues that young people care about. But the case for voting has to be made.In California, where competitive congressional races could determine control of Congress, young voters have the power to alter an election’s outcome.
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