More Americans under 30 say they'll vote this year than in 2010 and 2014, poll shows

(Image credit: iStockphoto)

published 29 October 2018

Voter turnout among young Americans tends to be embarrassingly low, but this year, things may be different.

In a new poll conducted by the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, 40 percent of voters under 30 said they will definitely turn out for the midterm election this year, The Washington Post reports. That may not seem like a lot, but it's up from the last two midterms. For comparison, in 2014, only 26 percent of young voters said they would definitely vote.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

These poll results are despite the fact that early voting numbers for young people in some states aren't very impressive; for instance, in Florida, just 5 percent of the votes cast so far have come from voters between ages 18 and 29, reports Politico. But in the new survey, just nine percent of respondents who said they will vote this year said they planned to do so at a location set up for early voting.

Explore More

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox