Young voters were the decisive vote in the 2022 midterms. Why is that?

THE TAKEAWAYS

THE TAKEAWAYS

  • A supermajority of young people (65%) consider themselves independent and unaffiliated with either major party.

  • 69% of young people feel neither the Republican or Democratic Parties represent them.

  • 80% of young voters believe elected leaders are more loyal to their party than their constituents.

  • 80% of young people believe closed primaries are a problem impacting young voters.

  • 85% of young voters think we need to reform the way we elect our leaders in America today and support a move to nonpartisan open primaries.

Survey Results

  • Do you consider yourself an independent voter, Republican or Democrat?

  • If you identify as independent which statement best describes why?

  • Did you feel you need to join a party in order to participate politically?

  • Do you feel that either of the two major parties (Republicans/Democrats) represents you?

  • Right now over 30 million Independent/No Party Affiliation Americans are locked out of primary elections...

    in states with closed primaries (primary elections only open to Democrats and Republicans). Over 50% of Millennial & Gen Z voters do not identify with either major party and are locked out of voting in the first round of elections in closed primary states. Do you think that's a problem impacting young voters?

  • Do you know whether you live in a state with an open or closed primary?

  • Do you plan on voting in your state’s primary election this year?

  • Do you think elected officials in your State Legislature and Congress are mainly loyal to the community or mainly loyal to the political party they belong to?

  • Which one of these terms are you familiar with?

  • Do you think that a change in how we elect our officials (electoral reform) is necessary?

  • If there was a proposal to change your election system to a single open primary...

    system in which all candidates compete on the same ballot and all voters get to participate and choose from all the candidates in the first round of voting--Would you oppose or support this proposal?

Final Findings

In this survey, we identify three critical throughlines about young voters in America today:

  • They are increasingly rejecting partisanship and party affiliation altogether. A growing number of young Americans, especially first-time voters, distrust party politics. More and more are rejecting registering with a party, believing that neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party represents them. Well over half of young Americans now view themselves as an independent. Other surveys, including Pew Research, have found similar results.

  • They believe our primary election system is broken. Young people believe our current system of party primaries, and closed party primaries in particular, are a significant issue for them. They believe they are producing elected leaders more accountable to their party than the voters and want to reform the system as a result. However, many of these voters are still unfamiliar with their own state’s rules. More voter education of young people and their voting rights is necessary.

  • Young voters overwhelmingly support open primaries. Young voters support open and nonpartisan primary systems as a key reform to make our system of elections more representative and democratic.

In 2020, for the first time, Millennials and Gen Z voters surpassed Baby Boomers and prior generations (older adults born in 1964 or earlier) as a share of all Americans eligible to vote. While their participation rates are still lower than older generations, that is changing rapidly. Young voters had historic turnout rates in both the 2018 midterms and 2020 general elections, where half of young voters participated; the highest rate of young voter participation since the voting age was lowered to eighteen.

Researchers say the 2022 election had the second-highest voter turnout among voters under 30 in at least the past three decades.

More than 8 million new young voters were eligible to participate in the 2022 midterm elections, where they were a decisive presence. By 2024, the two younger generations are expected to equal the older ones as a share of actual voters on Election Day. And by 2028, Millennials and Gen Z will dwarf the older generations as a share of both eligible and actual voters.

All of which to say, we better start listening to young voters in terms of how they think about our system of elections and the role they see for themselves in navigating them.

We hope this survey can begin a new conversation about reforming our primaries and ensuring the votes of our youngest voters are counted and meaningful.