WeVote at Western Michigan University and the Kalamazoo-area League of Women Voters say youth engagement around the November 5 election is strong.
The League’s Aedin Clements said voter registration and education has been going well. She said she’s been surprised to find that the young voters she’s spoken to were already registered and knew exactly when absentee voting starts.
“To me, that's kind of new that so many young people really understand the process," she said.
Clements' experience makes sense.
More Michigan voters in the 18-to-29-year old bracket were registered to vote by early September than were registered by the November election four years ago. That’s according to CIRCLE, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. The non-partisan research center at Tufts University is focused on youth civic engagement in the United States.
Was the bump in interest caused by a change in the Democratic ticket?
President Joe Biden stepped out of the race on July 21. Kamala Harris was nominated on August 5th. A day later, Michigan held its primary election.
Clements said it’s hard to say what caused the increase in voter registration.
“I have to say that bump in interest was also immediately after the August election. So, I can't say exactly what the cause of the bump in interest [was], but from early August on, we've had many, many requests to come and do voter education.”
Not just from youth, but also from seniors as well. And she’s also noticed more interest in down-ballot candidates running for school and library boards.
Clements said another barometer of how much interest there is in an election is based on the amount of interest in the League’s voter guide. The guide compiles the candidates' answers to a set of questions so voters can learn more about them.
Clements said she’s had more requests for the print version of the guide, which was just published this week, than in past elections. It’s available at public libraries, college campuses, grocery stores and city and township offices, or online at vote411.org. The online version includes survey responses from candidates who missed the deadline to be included in the print addition.
High registration, but turnout is another matter
In Kalamazoo County, more than six in ten 18-year-olds had registered to vote by May 1, according to The Civics Center, an organization that helps pre-register teens in high school.
Emily Duguay is a faculty volunteer with WeVote at Western. The group focuses on education and registration for new voters.
“Michigan, in fact, has the highest percentage nationwide of improvement in voter registration,” Duguay said.
The same CIRCLE study from September confirms it. Of the 34 states that provided data, 26 had fewer young people registered to vote than in 2020 by Sept. 3. But of the eight states with more registration, Michigan led the pack, with 8% more youth voters in September 2024 than on Election Day in November 2020.
But Duguay said the numbers don’t tell the whole story.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson held a youth voting roundtable in June to address the wide gap between youth voter registration and turnout at the polls.
“What we recently learned from Jocelyn Benson is that there were a million registered voters in this age bracket that didn't make it to the polls.”
Duguay says WeVote is now focused on getting out the vote by helping students make a voting plan, that may include voting early.
Early voting runs for 9 days beginning on October 26 at clerk’s offices and satellite offices around the state. A satellite office in the Fetzer Center at WMU opens on Oct. 14.
