Voter organization invests $10 million to boost young voter turnout in midterm elections
A voting engagement organization is investing $10 million to increase turnout among young voters in the midterm elections in the hopes of building on the momentum that was established during the 2020 election.
Vote.org, a political engagement organization, will pour $10 million into a campaign aiming to mobilize young voters, marking the group’s largest investment in boosting young voter turnout. The campaign will seek to reach more than 4 million voters ages 18 to 30 through social media by providing online resources on how to register, fill out mail-in ballots, or verify one’s registration status.
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“Young people from communities of color face disproportionate challenges to civic engagement — getting time off work to vote, long lines at polling locations, and anti-voter legislation aimed at disenfranchising college students,” Vote.org said on its website. “While Vote Ready will reach voters of all ages and demographics, this campaign specifically aims to activate young voters of color, particularly at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), trade schools, and community colleges.”
The new campaign, called “Vote Ready,” is the group’s latest effort to reach its goal of registering more than 1 million young voters before Election Day. Vote.org has already registered more than 381,000 new voters since the end of the 2020 election, according to Politico, and group members say they are confident they can reach 1 million by Nov. 8.
The campaign will focus its efforts on a handful of key swing states that have some of the highest populations of young voters, including Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, the outlet reported. Each of those battleground states is set to hold highly watched races that could determine which party gains control of Congress in November.
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The group is hoping to build on momentum ignited in 2020 when youth turnout was 11 percentage points higher compared to the presidential election in 2016, according to Vote.org. However, the group may face an uphill battle as midterm elections typically see lower voter turnout.
Organizers will also need to grapple with increasing sentiments that voting does not matter, as a New York Times / Siena College poll conducted in early July found that nearly half (48%) of voters between the ages of 18 and 29 don’t believe voting makes a difference.
