Can schools help boost youth voter turnout for midterms?

Advocates are hopeful the upcoming midterms will see an uptick in youth voters as high schools and colleges work to help register and encourage students to go to the polls. 

Voter turnout is typically lower during midterms, especially among the young, but advocates argue motivation is high due to the discontentment with the Trump administration and the economy. 

From classroom lessons focused on voting to events such as “Puppies to the Polls,” efforts are ramping up to beat the youth turnout numbers from the last midterms.  

For students at Harvard University, the youth voter turnout was around 36 percent last midterm cycle, according to Carter Umphress, co-chair of the Harvard Votes Challenge. 

This cycle, their “realistic goal” is 50 percent. 

“I expect turnout across the board to be fairly high for youth and for everybody else. Like I said, we’ve had an uptick in midterm turnout lately, and I do think that … the state of our current politics has made a lot of people recognize how important it can be,” Umphress said. 

“One of the most positive developments that we’ve seen in the last 10 or 15 years is that increase in civic engagement because the turnout in 2014 was abysmal, but in 2018 and 2022 has been quite high,” he added.” “So, that is one thing I can credit the current state of our politics for. So, I do see youth turnout increasing substantially from the last midterm. At least, I hope so.” 

The Harvard Youth Poll from this spring showed 59 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds believe the country is on the wrong track. Rising prices and inflation were the biggest concerns for young........

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