Age Voting Gap

Young voters (18-34) are predicted to vote at a higher rate than they did in the 2014 midterm election. But what is this year’s midterm voter turnout predicted to be for young voters compared to voters age 65 and older?

1. How accurate was your prediction?

2. According to the data, what is this year’s midterm voter turnout predicted to be for young voters compared to voters age 65 and older?

3. What are three reasons for that?

4. What is the big story this data tells?

5. What most surprised you about this data?

6. What is one consequence of this difference in voter turnout?

7. How do you think these voter turnout rates compare to elections past?

8. Describe three U.S. policies that would change if 32% of all midterm voters were young people, and only 13% were 65 and over?

9. Explain why those policies would change?

10. There is a minimum age for voting, should there be a maximum age?

11. Across all age groups, voters are registered in roughly similar numbers. Why does that same rate of voter registration not translate to the same rate of voter turnout in midterm elections?

12. Are midterm elections especially for old people?

13. If the largest share of voter turnout in midterm elections came from young people, how would that impact US political campaigns?

14. Some states have made it more difficult for young people to vote (for example, my state, NC, has made it particularly difficult for college students to vote). Why do you think that is?

15. Do you think that more young people would vote if the candidates they could chose from were younger?

16. Explain which party you think young voters are more likely to support.

17. In the 2016 presidential election, the three leading candidates (Trump, Clinton, Sanders) would all have been above the age of 70 had they won the election. Why do you think that is?

18. How do you think this age gap compares to voting gaps by race, sex, and socio-economic-status?

Learning Extension

Read this Pew report on voting rates for Generation X and millennial voters

Action Extension

How old are the candidates running for federal office (House, Senate) in your district? Find out and share what you learned in class and online.

Baby Giraffe Extension

That’s a real baby giraffe, y’all!