Super Tuesday: Why did more young people vote? – BBC News, BBC News

                                  Image copyright                   Grace Wells                                                        Young people are the future of politics – or at least , they should be.

In the US, people aged

Except younger voters, as a cohort, consistently turn out in lower numbers than older generations.

(The – – year-old is uniquely popular with the young – According to some polls

, he’s the first choice of about % of Democratic primary voters aged –

On Super Tuesday, surveys suggest Mr Sanders won the youth vote in every single state – yet there was a spike in overall youth turnout, and Mr Sanders still lost out to former Vice-President Joe Biden, , who won (out of) (states.)

Mr Sanders has admitted that it was “not easy” mobilising the youth vote. “Have we been as successful as I would hope in bringing young people in? The answer is no.”

John Della Volpe, the director of polling at Harvard Kennedy School, has led surveys on American youth voters since 2016. He says that based on exit polling data, “there is credible evidence to suggest that the youth vote is flat to down in most states … young people are just not as enthusiastic as many of us expected them to be”.

The honest answer is – it’s complicated, and there are several different factors involved. 1. It’s not always easy to vote – even when you want to

one Harvard poll last year found that (% of) – year olds said they were likely to vote in their party’s primary. But actual turnout appears to have been far lower than that – analysis of exit polls from Tufts University suggests youth turnout in the Super Tuesday states ranged from 5% to %.

And even in the states where the overall number of young voters increased, they were dwarfed by a larger increase from older voters. One reason? The process of casting your ballot can be complicated – especially for first time voters.

“There’s no candidate that magically makes voters show up at the polls, “says Abby Kiesa, director of impact at CIRCLE, a research organization at Tufts university focused on youth engagement.

“A young person doesn’t turn

and realise ‘oh, my voting location is here’ … too many people assume that just because we have the internet, everything is clear, and it’s not. “

                                                                                                       Image copyright                   Lina Tate                                                        

Many young people have complained about accidentally missing the registration deadline. – and for students living out of their home states, getting an absentee ballot can be even more complicated.

Benjamin Clardy, 38, is currently studying in Italy – and found that postal ballot requirements meant he had to “print out a very specific kind of envelope”. The problem? He did not have the right printer, and had to track down a specialist printer in Venice.

Small barriers can add up, says Grace Wells, , a Texan is currently studying in Chicago.

“Most of us don’t have printers at home anymore, “she says. “When you’re living a busy life, figuring out who to vote for, and trying to remember and navigate different voting processes for a county you don’t live in, it can be tough.”

And the system can be unreliable. Lina Tate, , registered for an absentee ballot in mid-February – but did not receive her ballot until 6 March – three days after Super Tuesday.

She has since sent off her ballot, but felt “very annoyed” at the process. “As a younger voter, I know that older generations already think we don’t turn out to vote … [but] this is an important process for me.”

The three all managed to cast their votes eventually – but the system makes it harder for young voters who aren’t extremely well-organized or motivated.

Meanwhile, many voters in Texas and California faced a physical challenge – as long lines meant they had to wait several hours to vote.

                                                                                                                       

Rights groups in Texas said wait times were particularly long in student neighborhoods – and one 21 – year-old told the Guardian he queued for an hour and a half , but had to leave to go to class. He returned shortly after : when polls closed, and waited for two hours, but was then told he was no longer allowed to vote.

2. Quite a lot of young people feel disillusioned

Mr Della Volpe says while there are very real barriers that make it hard for young people to vote, there are also “attitudinal barriers that need to be addressed.” “Young Americans vote when they can see a tangible difference that their participation can make,” he says, arguing that this motivated record turnout levels in the mid-term elections.

In general however, many young people can feel disengaged from politics. A Harvard survey found that only % of those aged to 36 Agreed with the statement that “elected officials who are part of the Baby Boomer generation care about people like me.”

                                                                                                       Image copyright                   Benjamin Clardy                                                        Within the Democratic party, many young voters feel that the party’s establishment has not been listening to them.

Mitchell Allen, 20, voted for Bernie Sanders, but says: “A lot of kids my age feel the system works against them – there’s no point voting because the establishment will win.”

Ms Wells, who also voted for Mr Sanders, argues “it’s difficult to mobilize people in a system that’s continuously telling them their political goals , and movements they want to see happening, are not viable. “

Meanwhile, Mr Clardy supported Pete Buttigieg – but also found the last-minute rallying behind Joe Biden “sad … it seemed like the Democratic Party was not acknowledging that there are problems.” 3. A lot of high school students get less information about politics Several young voters say they found it easier to engage in politics once they went to university.

Michaela Pernetti, 36, remembers people “did not want to talk about” politics at her high school in Sacramento, California.

“Families don’t talk about it so kids don’t, and you don’t want to bring it up and get in a fight with your friends. ” She found much more of a “political atmosphere” once she went to university. Ethan Somers, , tried to encourage his friends to register to vote when he was in high school in Lakewood, Colorado, but said many were likely to respond: “Do I really need to?”

                                                                                                       Image copyright                   Ethan Somers                                                        “A lot of people at my community college came from low socio-economic backgrounds, and faced real hardship, “Mr Somers says.

“In this small town we were in, they saw politics as a thing that happened in Washington, and It did not feel like the things they would vote on would make a difference to their lives. They felt politics had failed them in a way that made it too frustrating to deal with. “

A lot of the divide comes down to the fact that political campaigns rely on visiting college campuses – which means “young people who do not have college experience are much less likely to be contacted “, says Ms Kiesa from CIRCLE.

It is problematic” when systemic inequity in [political] access starts so early “, she adds.

4. It’s also down to the politicians in the race

A lot of people have blamed young people for not voting – or say Bernie Sanders failed to mobilise them – but experts say the other political campaigns played a part too.

            

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