How do we get young people to vote?

[edhopper]

The historically under-vote all other groups and also vote heavily Democratic.
If we could get them to come out in numbers commensurate with other age groups this would not be close.
But how do we reach them? How do we convince them their future is on the line and voting will save them?

Thoughts?

[LisaL]

1. All of the young people have older relatives.

I guess relatives might have to encourage them to vote.

[brer cat]

14. I have two granddaughters.

18 year old is very excited to be voting, watched all the Democratic Primary debates, and did research for the more obscure races. Her 19 year old sister didn't "have time" to register to vote and thinks it is way too much trouble to follow politics. Both raised in same family, attended the same school, heard the same conversations around the dinner table, and received the same encouragement.

[Clearly fogged in]

17. Funny how that works,

The words waft through the air, and split into multiple foreign languages

[flibbitygiblets]

16. This 👆

Talk to your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, cousins. Our 20-year-old is all fired up and ready to vote in her first general election.

Send them links to apply for absentee ballots (if they don't live in an all-vote-by-mail state like here in Oregon).

Maybe offer to buy them pizza if they vote (or pot if you live in a decriminalized state and they're over 21).

[treestar]

26. Yes, my godson is my success

He started voting as soon as he could, in a midterm no less.

[samnsara]

2. make sure pots on the ballot

[LisaL]

3. Pot is not on the ballot.

[displacedtexan]

21. Actually it is... in a way. Speaker Pelosi added marijuana banking protection

to the latest relief bill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Friday defended the decision to include marijuana banking protections in Democrats’ latest coronavirus relief bill.

The speaker was asked about various provisions of the legislation that Republicans had criticized as not germane to the health crisis, with a reporter citing the cannabis component in particular. Pelosi took issue with the suggestion and said there is a role for marijuana reform amid the pandemic.

“I don’t agree with you that cannabis is not related to this,” the top House Democrat said. “This is a therapy that has proven successful.”

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/nancy-pelosi-says-marijuana-is-a-therapy-that-has-proven-successful-amid-coronavirus-bill-debate/

[Codeine]

7. That's a little pathetic. nt

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. Telling them their future is on the line doesn't do much -- 18-25 year olds aren't great at

visualizing the future. I'd say highlight the ease of voting, and then make it easy, work on improving voter access in your state, talk about how voting and direct action are two wings on the same bird, etc., etc. But if you hit on something, let us know, because no one's found the magic key yet.

[edhopper]

5. Yeah, I know

it's why I made this post.

[Funtatlaguy]

6. Offer them sex, drugs, And rock n roll. Or beg and plead them.

[Blue_true]

28. Sex would likely be sufficient. Save the rock & roll and drugs for other days. nt

[Thekaspervote]

8. My daughter a staunch dem started early on her 2 girls. The oldest will be voting in 2022

And she is fired up to vote!

Dad is a repub, like a Lincoln project one and his parents are whacko trumpers. So. I credit their mom’s influence

[Codeine]

9. Mostly accept that they won't,

and engage the demographic groups that give a shit. How many cycles can we continue to beat our heads against the wall while expecting a different result?

[JonLP24]

10. Reading DU is probably not the best way to reach young people

Protestors are already being scapegoated and the election hasn't even took place yet. If I supported BLM but read DU I would be very discouraged which I am.

[Thekaspervote]

12. +1000

[Mariana]

11. If you figure it out, you'll be the first.

Young people have always had low voting rates. It might be a more productive use of time trying to convince old people not to vote Republican, as most of them do.

[Bev54]

13. Do a Tik Tok fun video n/t

[Alpeduez21]

15. Younger demographics

Like Bernie Sanders. They are excited about Representative Cortez. Warren is some one for whom the young were willing to work. The older conservative demographic is, once again, pandering to the middle in the hopes that boring policies will (this time!) convince everyone the Democratic Party is the better choice because boring reasoned tweed jacket and elbow patches are the future. Take a progressive stand and fight for it. That’s how to get youthful excitement

[octoberlib]

18. They didn't turn out for Bernie Sanders. Young people didn't vote in the 80's

when I was in college and it wasn't because there was no Sanders-like politician. They're just not that engaged with politics at that age.

[emulatorloo]

24. Try to keep up, the platform is very progressive. Just because you read that in some shithole

sub on Reddit doesn’t make it true.

[Tribetime]

19. Cold beer on tap at polling sites...FREE

[octoberlib]

20. I wonder if a mandatory civics class in HS that covers in depth why it's important to vote and what

it does for you would work. When I was in college in the 80's I didn't know anybody who voted in the mid-terms and quite a few people who weren't interested in voting for President.

[edhopper]

22. I got the vote when they passed the 26th Amendment

maybe it was because our lives were on the line if we were sent to Vietnam, but most of the kids I know couldn't wait to vote.

[littlemissmartypants]

23. I started sharing SCE's LOL Cats by text with my tween and

now she's 18 and a registered Democrat. I give SCE all the credit. I had no idea until this weekend that she had registered. I am so proud.

❤ lmsp

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

25. Young voters have never turned out in large numbers.

It was thought that lowering the voting age to 18 would get young people eager to vote, but it didn't work out.

All you can do is try to figure out what might possibly motivate a young person, but so much of politics is meaningless to them.

It took me a very long time to realize that voting in primaries and in local special elections was important. I haven't missed one of those in years, but didn't do that consistently for quite a while.

The process of registering can be daunting, even though I believe you can register through the DMV everywhere. High schools should have registration drives and give students information of voting, especially whatever is particular to that state.

[Blue_true]

27. If they don't see that everything that happens today impacts the rest

of their lives, then I don’t know what can be said to them to get them involved in shaping their future.