MOLINE, Ill. — One month out from Election Day, a new analysis of youth voter registration by researchers at Tufts University finds that some states have fewer young people registered to vote than they did on Election Day 2020.
Using data from 34 states, the analysis showed that there were 44% fewer people in the 18-29 age group registered to vote in Iowa versus Election Day 2020. In Illinois, there are 13% less. Both states offer in-person voter registration on Election Day.
University of Iowa students, Jasmyn Jordan of Young America's Foundation and Seth Dickinson of University Democrats were on GMQC Saturday to discuss the issues important to young voters.
"This summer, they released a poll that said that the economy and the accountability of our government were top issues among students," Jordan said. "I think that is honestly really accurate. I think it's really important to have officials that are actually doing their job on either party and also making sure that, things are so expensive right now and everyone, whether it's farmers or students, we really need to be able to afford (things) so we can be happy, healthy, live out our constitutional values."
"We've had a few meetings this year over at the University Democrats, I think the biggest issue for us has been abortion rights," Dickinson said. "But alongside that, a lot of students are worried about the implementation of any of the policies seen in Project 2025, so anything from anti-LGBTQ rights to some billionaire tax cuts that are mentioned in there as well."
The students don't just focus on the presidential race in their organization, but the local races too. How do they encourage other young people to get politically involved?
"I would encourage young people to actively engage in their communities and their schools," Jordan said. "You can find out what political party aligns with your goals and values by seeing how they meet the needs in your community. For instance, if there's lower literacy rates, finding out what group advocates for school choice and is really working to effectively help the student learn best."
"This fall, the University Democrats are particularly pushing to get local candidates to campus to speak with us," Dickinson said. "Kind of how Jasmyn mentioned there, just making sure that we give those resources and give those different websites to all the candidates working on those local levels because oftentimes that's the best way to reach out to them and to get to know them, is finding their issues through their websites and kind of doing research that way."
You can watch Jordan and Dickinson's full conversation on GMQC Saturday above.