Voter registration is spiking, particularly among young adults [View all]

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Source: USA Today

Published 5:10 a.m. ET Sept. 21, 2024 | Updated 1:19 p.m. ET Sept. 21, 2024


Voter registration is breaking records as Election Day approaches, particularly among young people, many of whom are first-time voters.

On Tuesday's National Voter Registration Day more than 150,000 people registered through Vote.org, the most the organization has ever seen on that day. The organization registered 279,400 voters in all of last year. Last week, 337,826 people visited a link posted on Instagram by pop star Taylor Swift that directed them to their state's voter registration site.

Although Swift noted that she would be voting for the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, people don't have to declare a party affiliation when they register and neither vote.org nor Swift tracked registrations by party. Vote.org has previously told USA TODAY that about 80% of people they register turn out in the next election. A huge percentage of the newly registered voters are young people, many voting for the first time.

According to Vote.org, voters under 35 made up 81% of Tuesday's registrations, with the biggest spike among 18-year-olds. On this year's National Voter Registration Day, 11% of those registered were 18, which is 53% higher than on the same day four years ago. "We're really seeing a surge in 18-year-olds registering to vote." Vote.org CEO Andrea Hailey said. "We know that we can onboard the next generation of voters into our democracy if we can get people to register and get out to these elections."

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/09/21/young-voter-registration-breaking-records-swift/75306021007/