Why Young People Don’t Vote
This graph (using Census survey data from 2010) presents an interesting contrast:
College students are much more likely to cite being out of town or away from home as the reason they didn’t vote. That make sense: they tend to live away. Their peers who are not in college are somewhat more likely to cite a lack of interest or faith in the impact of their vote. They are also more likely to give miscellaneous “other” reasons.
We are aware of the limitations of survey data about reasons for non-voting. Individuals may not know or disclose their own true reasons. And some of the answers are ambiguous. For example, if you say that you were “too busy,” does that mean that you absolutely could not get to the polls or that voting was a relatively low priority for you? (Would motivating you make any difference, or not?)
Still, this graph suggests that the obstacles to voting are quite different for current college students and for their more numerous contemporaries who are not in college.
May 13th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
[...] has a post today exploring the difference in reasons college youth and non-college youth give for not [...]
May 15th, 2011 at 9:51 am
I think the reason not to vonting is the lack of confidence people (mostly the young ones) tend to have in the Political System. Baserd on that, the reasons to not voting is just some excuse to justify that.
People find one that suits em better and voila, they feel better. I find that kinda bad, the less people care for their Political scene the worst it tend to get.
May 16th, 2011 at 1:28 pm
There has always been a big push specifically by MTV to “rock the vote” but I’m not sure that has really worked. Maybe we do need a easier system for our country’s college kids to vote. College students would tend to be more liberal so maybe the republicans don’t mind too much.
May 19th, 2011 at 2:56 pm
I don’t think young people realize the value of voting and what is at stake. They just have not had enough life experience yet.
August 11th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Like Dave said, more and more youth centered media outlets like MTV, VH1 and a few select others have made a push to encourage the young voters to get out and vote. There has been a slight increase in numbers but the turn outs for the polls are still a disapointing low. Maybe one day these youngsters will catch on.
May 2nd, 2012 at 1:11 pm
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