Voter registration drive at YSU targets young, first-time voters

Young Americans are reliably less likely to vote than older ones — a trend the League of Women Voters of Ohio (LWVO) is hoping to change for the upcoming general election. 

“There's this kind of cliché that students, these youth, are our future, but we really need them now,” said Trevor Marti, program coordinator for LWVO. “The future is now. We need them engaged.”

LWVO stopped at Youngstown State University’s campus Wednesday for its "Your Voice, Your Vote, Your Power" tour. The nonpartisan organization is stopping at college campuses across Ohio to register young and first-time voters through October 6, the last day to register for the state’s general election. 

Data from Pew Research Group shows Americans under 30 made up just 15% of all voters in the 2024 election, despite being 20% of the total electorate. A recent Associated Press-NORC poll also found young people are more likely to reject political party labels than older groups, and less likely to say it is “extremely” or “very” important to vote. 

YSU students who spoke with 21 News Wednesday afternoon had a mix of opinions about the current political system — some said they believed it worked, while others criticized it — but all of them said they believe some changes could make the country better, and young people could be better represented than they are in the current system. 

One change young voters consistently said they’d like to see is more young people in office. The median age of voting members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate at the start of the year was 57.5 and 64.7, respectively, according to Pew Research Group. 

“I get it, like they've been around longer, but as a younger generation, I see a lot of things that they wouldn't see,” said Carter Cook, the executive vice president of YSU’s student government. 

Aidan Sincek, another YSU student, agreed.

“They're trying to tackle the issues, but they don't know how it is to be young in this time,” Sincek said. “So they're trying, but they aren't doing a very great job.”

Many members of Congress are likely to serve for years longer, free from term limits and enjoying the well-known advantage of incumbency — something that also plays a role in young voters feeling underrepresented, according to Cryshanna Jackson Leftwich, a politics professor at YSU. 

“In order to run against an incumbent, you have to raise millions of dollars, and so we have already siloed who can actually run for office, just based off of the sheer amount of money that you would have to provide or secure,” Jackson Leftwich said. 

Students also told 21 News the current system increases partisanship and limits their options. 

“I do believe that the two-party system kind of sets us up as a society to just pit each other against one another, and it doesn't really allow for everyone's voices to be truly heard because of the fact that disrespect in politics is so prevalent,” said Madeline Riccardi, the YSU student government vice president of assessment and enrichment. 

Young voters in other countries have built power by organizing third parties, but the U.S. isn’t set up for that, Jackson Leftwich said. In order to allow more parties to thrive, Republicans and Democrats would have to willingly cede some of their own power.

“While we have third independent parties, the United States is clearly a two-party system,” Jackson Leftwich said. “The way it's written now, the two parties in charge make the rules. So they're not really trying to split the vote, because once you get that third party in, you're basically guaranteeing a split vote.”

One thing that also can hold young people back, Jackson Leftwich said, is their lack of patience, as she said sometimes voters are willing to give up when they don’t see results immediately. 

“This new generation likes this instant gratification, and so they have to understand that the change that you want to see is not going to be an instant change,” Jackson Leftwich said. “If we’re talking about third parties, this may take 9, 10, 11 years, right? It is not going to happen by October.”