EMILY COFFEY: There is one big concern at the polls today.
N-C-C’S Emily Coffey has more on what this big issue is.
Young people, that is the worry many polling volunteers have. After speaking with a few volunteers this morning many had the same question and sentiment.
“Did you vote? We need to get more young people to the polls.”
This is not just an issue in Onondaga County. According to estimates from the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, also known as CIRCLE, at Tufts University…
In 2022, youth turnout ranged from as high as 37% in some states to as low was 13%.
Though New York’s youth turnout rate did increase from 2018 to 2022. The numbers are still quite low.
According to CIRCLE New York’s youth turnout rate in 2022 was just 20.7%.
COFFEY: A young voter, Abby Zambuhl and her mother came out to the polls early this morning to cast their votes.
Abby has a message for young people who may not see the value in their vote.
ABBY ZAMBUHL: It’s hard because I do feel like a lot of the time we express what we want to say, but people don’t really listen. But, this is something that is kind of built in where we get to hold people accountable. If you vote for them and they are in office you get to say, ‘I voted for you, and you’re not doing what you said you were going to do.’ So, it’s an easy way to get yourself in the mix, when you feel hopeless.
COFFEY: For Abby, there is hope in casting your vote.
Reporting from Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church, I’m Emily Coffey for N-C-C News.
SYRACUSE N.Y. (NCC News) – A common concern among poll workers this year is the lack of young people showing up to the polls.
After visiting two polling places, Buckley Road Baptist Church and Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church, early this morning the concern among many volunteers was the lack youth representation at the polls.
One polling volunteer, who asked not to be named, stressed the importance of brining more friends out to vote. Highlighting the importance of young people in America’s future.
Estimations of youth voter, ages 18 to 29, turnout in 2022 ranged from a high 37% in some states to as low as 13% in others, according to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life.
“We get to hold people accountable. If you vote for them, and they are in office, you get to say I voted for you and you are not doing what you said you would,” said Abby Zambuhl, a young voter.
In 2022 the youth turnover rate in New York was 20.7%. Though that is an improvement from 2018 when the youth turnout rate was 16.4%. There is still a long way to go.
