Report: Registration is key to encouraging young people to vote

A healthy democracy depends on the participation and commitment of the people in it. But learning about the “rights and duties of citizenship” in civics class is often not enough to equip new voters to register to vote – and then follow through on election day.

A new report published by The Civics Center in partnership with the Coalition for Open Democracy shows both that local voter registration drives can kickstart a commitment to voting – and that when our youngest eligible voters are registered, they do show up to cast their ballots.

The report showed that 83 percent of New Hampshire 18-year-olds who were registered to vote turned out to vote in the 2022 midterms – a truly impressive number.

And more good news: Between June, 2022 and July, 2023 the percentage of 18-year-olds registered to vote in the state nearly doubled – from 8.5 percent to 15.6 percent.

But New Hampshire has plenty of room to improve when it comes to encouraging young voters to register. Eighty percent of eligible voters over 35 in New Hampshire are registered to vote. And nationwide, on average, more than 30 percent of 18-year-olds are registered to vote.

The new report details recent efforts that the two nonprofit, nonpartisan groups made – in partnership with local schools, educators and students – to encourage 18-year-olds in New Hampshire to register to vote. Those efforts, and the report, were supported by grant funding from the Charitable Foundation.

While registration rates among 18-year-olds in many Granite State cities and towns remain very low, the groups’ joint efforts contributed to a near doubling of voter registration rates for 18-year-olds from June 2022 to July 2023.

The report includes information about holding registration drives at high schools, highlights of New Hampshire’s first Youth Voter Registration Conference, and systemic challenges that young people in New Hampshire face in registering to vote which could be addressed with policy changes.

The efforts to encourage more young people to register came on the heels of initial research from The Civics Center that showed low levels of registration among New Hampshire’s youngest eligible voters.

Foundation grants are supporting The Civics Center and Open Democracy as they continue the work of encouraging young people to register and participate. The Foundation has also been funding other community-based groups to conduct nonpartisan voter outreach and engagement among additional eligible voters who face systemic barriers participating in the process. This work is a key part of the Foundation’s broader civic health work, which supports media and journalism, civics education, civic health infrastructure, youth organizing, and other efforts to enhance voting participation and access.

Read the full report here.