The Challenge of Bringing Voter Mobilization “To Scale”: An Evaluation of Youth Vote’s 2002 Phone Banking Campaigns

Research dating to the 1940s has consistently shown that young citizens vote at lower rates than older citizens and are less likely to feel connected to the electoral process (Highton and Wolfinger 2001). Low voter turnout among young citizens has grown more acute since 1972, when the nationwide voting age was lowered to 18. According to figures compiled by CIRCLE researchers, the proportion of eligible citizens age 18-24 who went to the polls declined from 55% in 1972 to 42% in 2000 (CIRCLE 2003). This low and diminishing level of involvement reflects something of a vicious cycle. Because young people vote at low rates, they are less likely to be courted by campaigns (Bennett 1991). As campaigns attend to other constituencies, young voters are neither central to the framing of campaign issues nor the object of voter mobilization efforts. As the proportion of the voting electorate below the age of 26 declines, young people are at risk of becoming increasingly irrelevant to campaigns and elections.