- Marc E. Elias
Co-Chair - Trevor Potter
Co-Chair - Doug Chapin
Director of Election Initiatives for the Pew Center on the States, a division of the Pew Charitable Trusts - Pedro A. Cortés
Pennsylvania Secretary of State - Matthew M. Damschroder
Deputy Director, Franklin County Board of Elections - John C. Danforth
Former U.S. Senator, Missouri - Thomas A. Daschle
Former Majority Leader and U.S. Senator, South Dakota - Harold E. Ford, Jr.
Former U.S. Representative, Tennessee - John C. Fortier
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research - Dean C. Logan
Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder / County Clerk - Thomas E. Mann
The Brookings Institution - Susan Molinari
Former U.S. Representative, New York - Ralph Munro
Former Washington Secretary of State - Norman J. Ornstein
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
News Update: Utah Gov’s Bipartisan Commission Unanimously Recommends Voter Registration Modernization to facilitate and automate registration.
Our Young People Suffer
Young voters care about the issues and, as we saw in 2008, are willing and able to bring their considerable power to bear on the electoral process. Unfortunately, too many young people are shut out from participating because of our 19th-century registration system. Young voters know better than anyone what the power of technology can do and they can spot inefficiencies a mile away. The inefficiencies of voter registration have a disproportionate effect on young voters. Because young voters are new to the process and because they move more frequently than older voters, they are more likely to need to re-register. Moreover, confusion about rules governing domicile for voting purposes often leaves eligible voters off the list.
- Even though young voter turnout has increased more than any other age group since 2000 (11 percentage points), it was 11 percentage points lower in 2008 than turnout for the voting-age population as a whole.
- In 2008, there were 44 million people under the age of 30 eligible to vote.
- Only half of all eligible 18-29 year olds turned out to vote in 2008. But of those 18-29 year olds that were registered to vote, 83.5% of them turned out on Election Day.
- According to data from the 2004 elections, students with a bachelor’s degree or higher turned out at the highest rate, peaking at 69%, whereas those who had some college experience voted at a rate of 57%. Students with a high school or equivalent education voted at a rate of 38%; those with less than a high school diploma voted at a rate of 23%.
There’s a 21st-century solution that harnesses the power of technology to ensure that all eligible voters, no matter what age, can participate. Voters should be automatically added to the rolls when they turn 18. High schools and colleges should automatically add eligible students’ names to the voter registration rolls. There should be a fail-safe so young voters who do not get added to the rolls are able to cast a ballot that counts on Election Day. When voters are turned away the first time they vote, they are less likely to return again. All young voters who want to have a say in their democracy should be provided that opportunity.