Why Are Young People Less Likely To Vote?

Published: Tuesday, November 6, 2018 - 1:26pm
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Will Stone/KJZZ
A line outside of ASU Tempe's polling location on Nov. 6, 2018.

With all eyes on Tuesday's midterm elections, and with the record turnout expected here and across the country today, we can forget that there’s still a sizable part of the population that is not voting.

The record turnout today will likely be around 50 percent, and when it comes to young people, that number will likely be lower.

A new poll from AARP Arizona found that of more than 1,600 Millennials surveyed, just slightly more than half said they’d vote today.

In the last midterm elections in 2014, only 18 percent of college students voted.

So, why are so many young people skipping the polls? We asked around to a few of our KJZZ interns and found Jamie Kuhner and Jacob Montgomery.

They’re boyfriend and girlfriend — seniors at ASU — and they’re both not voting.

They came on The Show to talk about why.

On the other side of the spectrum is Maria Mendez. She could be considered something of a voting anomaly.

She’s young, a freshman in college and she’s Latina — both of which, statistically mean she’s much less likely to vote.

But, Mendez rejects that notion, To prove it she’s been knocking on doors with BAZTA, a Latino advocacy group, for the past month urging her community to show up at the polls and make their voices heard.

She also joined The Show to talk about what’s motivating her.

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