About 4 million Americans will turn 18 in 2026, but if past trends continue, under a third of them will be registered to vote in the November elections. Automatically registering every American when they come of age would be the fairest, most effective way to protect US democracy, yet we have built an electoral system that does the opposite.

Every year, millions of 18-year-old Americans go unregistered and excluded from the electoral process. In a typical midterm year, US census data shows fewer than 30% are registered to vote, compared with nearly 75% of those aged 45 and up. Because they are outside of state voter files, candidates, campaigns and pollsters ignore them. Their voices and energy go untapped; their policy and programmatic needs go unfunded.

Conventional wisdom has it that too many teens just don’t care about politics. After all, less than half of all 18- to 24-year-olds voted in the past three presidential elections, compared with more than two-thirds of the over-45s. And yet: when 18-year-olds are registered, they turn out in major elections at nearly the same rates as older folks. In the swing state of Pennsylvania, for instance, more than 80% of registered 18-year-olds voted in the 2020 and 2024 general elections.

So low turnout is not because of apathy – it’s lack of access and support. Our systems fail to welcome all young voters into our democracy as soon as they are........

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