What's the rate of voting for people under thirty in the USA?
Youth vote in the United States
The youth vote in the United States is a political term used to describe 18- to 24-year-olds and their voting habits. Many policy areas specifically affect the youth of the United States, such as education issues and the juvenile justice system. The general trend in voter turnout for American elections has been decreasing for all age groups, but "young people's participation has taken the biggest nosedive". This low youth turnout is part of the generational trend of voting activity. Young people have the lowest turnout, though as the individual ages, turnout increases to a peak at the age of 50 and then falls again. 
Ever since 18-year-olds were given the right to vote in 1972, youth have been under represented at the polls. In 1976, one of the first elections in which 18-year-olds were able to vote, 18-24 year-olds made up 18 percent of all eligible voters in America, but only 13 percent actually voted - an under-representation of one-third. In the next election in 1978, youth were under-represented by 50 percent. "Seven out of ten young people…did not vote in the 1996 presidential election… 20 percent below the general turnout". In 1998, out of the 13 percent of eligible youth voters in America, only five percent voted. During the competitive presidential race of 2000, 36 percent of youth turned out to vote and in 2004, the "banner year in the history of youth voting," 47 percent of the American youth voted. Recently, in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, the number of youth voters tripled and even quadrupled in some states compared to the 2004 elections.
Fred Karger
Karger has proposed a 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution which would grant 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote. He argues that such an amendment would encourage younger people to participate in the political process.
Voting age
In 2013, the City of Takoma Park, Maryland became the first place in the United States to lower its voting age to 16, for local (but not general) elections and referendums. As of 2018, three additional cities have lowered the voting age to 16: Hyattsville and Greenbelt in Maryland, and Berkeley in California (for school board elections only). In 2018, a bill in the Council of the District of Columbia was proposed to lower the voting age to 16, which would make the federal district the first jurisdiction to lower the voting age for federal level elections.
Youth vote in the United States
Because the youth population is so large, many campaigns try to gain their support during elections. Efforts to capture the youth vote include registration drives, outreach and specifically youth-friendly policy platforms. An example of a fairly successful voter registration drive would be the "Reggie the Rig" drive by the Republican National Committee in the 2004 election. With a goal of registering three million new voters, the "Reggie the Rig" bus travelled to college campuses, a place to reach thousands of youth at once. During the same election, the Democrats held their own campus visits, but instead of focusing on registration, the Kerry campaign spread the word about their youth policy platform called Compact with the Next Generation. The Democrats also placed targeted ads on TV during shows such as "Saturday Night Live" and "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart. This targeted campaign on TV has often been supplemented with outreach through the internet in modern campaigns. New technology, the internet especially, is making it easier for candidates to reach the youth. It has been found that "young people who encounter campaign information on their own accord and spend time interacting with political material may come to see themselves interested in politics."
Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in his 1954 State of the Union address, became the first president to publicly support prohibiting age-based denials of suffrage for those 18 and older. During the 1960s, both Congress and the state legislatures came under increasing pressure to lower the minimum voting age from 21 to 18. This was in large part due to the Vietnam War, in which many young men who were ineligible to vote were conscripted to fight in the war, thus lacking any means to influence the people sending them off to risk their lives. "Old enough to fight, old enough to vote" was a common slogan used by proponents of lowering the voting age. The slogan traced its roots to World War II, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt lowered the military draft age to eighteen.
Tobacco in the United States
Tobacco distribution is measured in the United States using the term, "tobacco outlet density." An estimated 36.5 million people, or 15.1% of all adults (aged 18 years or older), in the United States smoked cigarettes in 2015. By state, in 2015, smoking prevalence ranged from between 9.1% and 12.8% in Utah to between 23.7% and 27.4% in West Virginia. By region, in 2015, smoking prevalence was highest in the Midwest (18.7%) and South (15.3%) and lowest in the West (12.4%). Men tend to smoke more than women. In 2015, 16.7% of men smoked compared to 13.6% of women. In 2009 46.6 million, or 20.6 percent of adults 18 and older were current smokers.
Voter turnout in the United States presidential elections
Another factor influencing statistics on voter turnout is the percentage of the country's voting-age population who are ineligible to vote due to non-citizen status or prior felony convictions. In a 2001 article in the "American Political Science Review", Michael McDonald and Samuel Popkin argued, that at least in the United States, voter turnout since 1972 has not actually declined when calculated for those eligible to vote, what they term the voting-eligible population. In 1972, noncitizens and ineligible felons (depending on state law) constituted about 2% of the voting-age population. By 2004, ineligible voters constituted nearly 10%. Ineligible voters are not evenly distributed across the country – 20% of California's voting-age population is ineligible to vote – which confounds comparisons of states.
Poll tax
Prior to the mid 20th century, a poll tax was implemented in some U.S. state and local jurisdictions and paying it was a requirement before one could exercise their right to vote. After this right was extended to all races by the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, many Southern states enacted poll taxes as a means of excluding African-American voters, most of whom were dirt poor and unable to pay a tax. So as not to disenfranchise the many poor whites, such laws typically included a grandfather clause, exempting from the tax any adult male whose father or grandfather had voted. The effect was to exempt whites from the tax blacks had to pay, because no black fathers or grandfathers had been able to vote. The poll tax, along with literacy tests and extra-legal intimidation, achieved the desired effect of disenfranchising African Americans. Often in US discussions, the term "poll tax" is used to mean a tax that must be paid in order to vote, rather than a capitation tax simply. The Twenty-fourth Amendment, ratified in 1964, prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote on payment of a poll tax or any other type of tax.
U.S. history of alcohol minimum purchase age by state
As one can see in the table below, there has been much volatility in the states' drinking ages since the
repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Shortly after the ratification of the 21st amendment in December, most states set their purchase ages at 21 since that was the voting age at the time. Most of these limits remained constant until the early 1970s. From 1969 to 1976, some 30 states lowered their purchase ages, generally to 18. This was primarily because the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1971 with the 26th amendment. Many states started to lower their minimum drinking age in response, most of this occurring in 1972 or 1973. Twelve states kept their purchase ages at 21 since repeal of Prohibition and never changed them.
Gros-de-Vaud District
The age distribution, , in Gros-de-Vaud is; 4,635 children or 12.5% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 4,907 teenagers or 13.2% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 4,193 people or 11.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 5,531 people or 14.9% are between 30 and 39, 6,224 people or 16.8% are between 40 and 49, and 4,699 people or 12.7% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 3,758 people or 10.1% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 1,991 people or 5.4% are between 70 and 79,there are 978 people or 2.6% who are 80 and 89, and there are 168 people or 0.5% who are 90 and older.In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 27.84% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (18.3%), the FDP (14.87%) and the Green Party (13.33%). In the federal election, a total of 10,796 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 46.6%.
Voting age
In the United States, the debate about lowering voting age from 21 to 18 began during World War II and intensified during the Vietnam War, when most of those subjected to the draft were too young to vote, and the image of young men being forced to risk their lives in the military without the privileges of voting successfully pressured legislators to lower the voting age nationally and in many states. By 1968, several states had lowered the voting age below 21 years: Alaska and Hawaii's minimum age was 20, Kentucky's was 19, and Georgia's was 18. In 1970, the Supreme Court in "Oregon v. Mitchell" ruled that Congress had the right to regulate the minimum voting age in federal elections; however, not at local and state level.
Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twenty-third Amendment (Amendment XXIII) to the United States Constitution extends the right to vote in presidential elections to citizens residing in the District of Columbia. The amendment grants the district electors in the Electoral College as though it were a state, though the district can never have more electors than the least-populous state. The Twenty-third amendment was proposed by the 86th Congress on June 16, 1960, and was ratified by the requisite number of states on March 29, 1961.
Voter registration in the United States
It has been argued that some registration requirements deter some people (especially disadvantaged people) from registering and therefore exercising their right to vote, resulting in a lower voter turnout. According to a 2012 study, 24% of the voting-eligible population in the United States are not registered to vote, equaling some 51 million U.S. citizens. While voters traditionally had to register at government offices by a certain period of time before an election, in the mid-1990s, the federal government made efforts to facilitate registering, in an attempt to increase turnout. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (the "Motor Voter" law) now requires state governments to "either" provide uniform opt-in registration services through drivers' license registration centers, disability centers, schools, libraries, and mail-in registration, "or" to allow Election Day voter registration, where voters can register at polling places immediately prior to voting. In 2016, Oregon became the first state to make voter registration fully automatic (opt-out) when issuing driver licenses and ID cards, since followed by four more states. Political parties and other organizations sometimes hold "voter registration drives", that is, events to register new voters.
Libertarianism
In the United States, polls (circa 2006) find that the views and voting habits of between 10 and 20 percent (and increasing) of voting age Americans may be classified as "fiscally conservative and socially liberal, or libertarian". This is based on pollsters and researchers defining libertarian views as fiscally conservative and socially liberal (based on the common United States meanings of the terms) and against government intervention in economic affairs and for expansion of personal freedoms. Through 20 polls on this topic spanning 13 years, Gallup found that voters who are libertarian on the political spectrum ranged from 17–23% of the United States electorate. However, a 2014 Pew Poll found that 23% of Americans who identify as libertarians have no idea what the word means.
Training Wheels for Citizenship
The plan was criticized as promoting "representation without taxation." Republican Assemblyman Ray Haynes said, "There's a reason 14-year-olds and 16-year-olds don't vote. They are not adults. They are not mature enough. They are easily deceived by political charlatans." The argument that today's teenagers should be able to vote because they know more about the world than their predecessors was rebutted by a FrontPage Magazine editorial which stated, "Today’s internet-savvy 14-year-olds may have more data than did their peers 40 years ago, but they do not necessarily have any more wisdom, maturity, or life experience to immunize them against delusion, demagogues and deceivers." Republican State Senator Ross Johnson said, "To waste taxpayer money having children cast votes would be ridiculous at any time, but in the face of our current fiscal crisis, it's an obscenity." The historical basis for the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, was that 18-year-olds were being drafted to fight in the Vietnam War; the argument was made that no such compelling reason exists for lowering the voting age to 14 or 16.
Wood County, Wisconsin
In the county, the population was spread out with 25.70% under the age of 18, 7.70% from 18 to 24, 28.40% from 25 to 44, 22.90% from 45 to 64, and 15.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.00 males.Wood County has a 19-member board of supervisors, each member representing a district.
Wood County has voted Republican in presidential elections from 1940 to 1992, the only exception being Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. In 1996, Bill Clinton snapped a 28-year Republican streak in the county, taking 45.1% of the vote compared to Bob Dole's 39%. The county became a swing county during the 2000s, giving 49 and 51 percent of the vote to George W. Bush in both elections, and 55 percent to Obama in 2008. Donald Trump garnered 56 percent of the vote in Wood County in 2016.
Youth suffrage
In the United States, suffrage originally could not be denied on account of age only to those 21 years of age or older; this age is mentioned in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified on July 1, 1971, lowered that age to 18. The primary impetus for this change was the fact that young men were being drafted to fight in the Vietnam War before they were old enough to vote. There have been many proposals to lower the voting age even further. In 2004, California State Senator John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara) proposed a youth suffrage constitutional amendment called Training Wheels for Citizenship that would give 14-year-olds a quarter vote, 16-year-olds a half vote, and 17-year-olds a full vote.
Youth
Voting age is the minimum age established by law that a person must attain to be eligible to vote in a public election. Typically, the age is set at 18 years; however, ages as low as 16 and as high as 21 exist (see list below). Studies show that 21% of all 18 year olds have experience with voting. This is an important right since, by voting they can support politics selected by themselves and not only by people of older generations.
Voter turnout
Limited research suggests that genetic factors may also be important. Some scholars recently argued that the decision to vote in the United States has very strong heritability, using twin studies of validated turnout in Los Angeles and self-reported turnout in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to establish that. They suggest that genetics could help to explain why parental turnout is such a strong predictor of voting in young people, and also why voting appears to be habitual. Further, they suggest, if there is an innate predisposition to vote or abstain, this would explain why past voting behavior is such a good predictor of future voter reaction.
Training Wheels for Citizenship
Training Wheels for Citizenship was a youth suffrage proposal by California Democratic state senator John Vasconcellos to give 14-year-olds one-quarter of a vote and 16-year-olds one-half of a vote, with 18-year-olds continuing to have a full vote as under the current system. It would have applied only in state elections. Vasconellos' rationale for the graduated system was that he did not think that the legislature would approve full voting rights; however, he said "in my heart I think 16-year-olds should be given a full vote."
1970s
The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on July 1, 1971, lowering the voting age for all federal and state elections from 21 years to 18 years. The primary impetus for this change was the fact that young men were being drafted to fight in the Vietnam War before they were old enough to vote.
United States Electoral College
Under the Twenty-third Amendment, Washington, D.C., is allocated as many electors as it would have if it were a state, but no more electors than the least populous state. The least populous state (which is Wyoming, according to the 2010 census) has three electors; thus, D.C. cannot have more than three electors. Even if D.C. were a state, its population would entitle it to only three electors; based on its population per electoral vote, D.C. has the second highest per capita Electoral College representation, after Wyoming.
Electoral system
Electoral rules place limits on suffrage and candidacy. Most countries's electorates are characterised by universal suffrage, but there are differences on the age at which people are allowed to vote, with the youngest being 16 and the oldest 21 (although voters must be 25 to vote in Senate elections in Italy). People may be disenfranchised for a range of reasons, such as being a serving prisoner, being declared bankrupt, having committed certain crimes or being a serving member of the armed forces. Similar limits are placed on candidacy (also known as passive suffrage), and in many cases the age limit for candidates is higher than the voting age. A total of 21 countries have compulsory voting, although in some there is an upper age limit on enforcement of the law. Many countries also have the none of the above option on their ballot papers.
Voting age
Eighteen is the most common voting age, with a small minority of countries differing from this rule. Those with a national minimum age of 17 include East Timor, Greece, Indonesia, North Korea, South Sudan and Sudan. The minimum age is 16 in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey (three self-governing British Crown Dependencies). People aged 16–18 can vote in Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro if employed. The highest minimum voting age is 21 in several nations. Some countries have variable provision for the minimum voting age, whereby a lower age is set for eligibility to vote in state, regional or municipal elections.
Latino vote
According to Pew Research Center projections, 27.3 million Latinos are eligible to vote, representing 12% of all eligible voters. For the 2016 election, millennials made up 44% of Latino eligible voters which is an 80% increase since 2012. In 2016, 57% of Hispanic voters said they were dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country, up from 50% in 2012. Three-quarters of Hispanic registered voters said they had discussed Trump's comments about Hispanics or other groups with family, friends or coworkers, which made them more willing to vote in this election.
Voter registration in the United States
Voter turnout is much higher in states using EDR than in states that do not. A 2013 report analyzing turnout in the 2012 United States presidential election, had SDR states averaging at a turnout of 71%, well above the average voter turn-out rate of 59% for non-SDR states. According to official turnout data report in the 2014 edition of America Goes to the Polls, voter turnout in EDR states has averaged 10–14 percent higher than states that lack that option. Research suggests that EDR increases turnout between three and fourteen percentage points. A 2004 study summarizes the impact of EDR on voter turnout as "about five percentage points".
Education of immigrants in the United States
Immigrants make up about 13% of the US population, about 42 million out of a total population of 318.9 million citizens in 2017. Compared to the native-born population, young adults aged 15–34 are significantly over-represented in new immigrants. Children and immigrants ages 35–44 are in similar proportion to native-born Americans, but older people are under-represented in new immigrants. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in 1982 in Plyler v. Doe that states cannot deny students an education on account of their immigration status, allowing students to gain access to the United States' public schooling system. Further, Lau v. Nichols prohibited discrimination based on race or national origin.
Voter turnout
Before the late 20th century, suffrage — the right to vote — was so limited in most nations that turnout figures have little relevance to today. One exception was the United States, which had near universal white male suffrage by 1840. The U.S. saw a steady rise in voter turnout during the century, reaching its peak in the years after the Civil War. Turnout declined from the 1890s until the 1930s, then increased again until 1960 before beginning its current long decline. In Europe, voter turnouts steadily increased from the introduction of universal suffrage before peaking in the mid-to-late 1960s, with modest declines since then. These declines have been smaller than those in the United States, and in some European countries turnouts have remained stable and even slightly increased. Globally, voter turnout has decreased by about five percentage points over the last four decades.
James Harnett
Harnett introduced a proposal to lower the voting age in D.C. to 16, which was approved and is pending law. It is the first jurisdiction in the United States to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote for the President of the United States and other federal offices.
Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Senator Harley Kilgore began advocating for a lowered voting age in 1941 in the 77th Congress. Despite the support of fellow senators, representatives, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Congress failed to pass any national change. However, public interest in lowering the vote became a topic of interest at the local level. In 1943 and 1955 respectively, the Georgia and Kentucky legislatures passed measures to lower the voting age to 18.
Thirteen Colonies
The actual rate of voting ranged from 20% to 40% of all adult white males. The rates were higher in Pennsylvania and New York, where long-standing factions based on ethnic and religious groups mobilized supporters at a higher rate. New York and Rhode Island developed long-lasting two-faction systems that held together for years at the colony level, but they did not reach into local affairs. The factions were based on the personalities of a few leaders and an array of family connections, and they had little basis in policy or ideology. Elsewhere the political scene was in a constant whirl, based on personality rather than long-lived factions or serious disputes on issues.
Voter turnout in the United States presidential elections
Age difference is associated with youth voter turnout.
Berman and Johnson's (2000) argument affirms that "age is an important factor in understanding voting blocs and differences" on various issues. Young people are typically "plagued" by political apathy and thus do not have strong political opinions (The Economist, 2014). As strong political opinions may be considered one of the reasons behind voting (Munsey, 2008), political apathy among young people is arguably a predictor for low voter turnout. Pomante and Schraufnagel's (2014) research demonstrated that potential young voters are more willing to commit to vote when they see pictures of younger candidates running for elections/office or voting for other candidates, surmising that young Americans are "voting at higher and similar rates to other Americans when there is a candidate under the age of 35 years running". As such, since most candidates running for office are pervasively over the age of 35 years (Struyk, 2017), youth may not be actively voting in these elections because of a lack of representation or visibility in the political process. "Only 30 percent of millennials think it's 'essential' to live in a democracy, compared to 72 percent of those born before World War II" (Gershman, 2018). Considering that one of the critical tenets of liberal democracy is voting, the idea that millennials are denouncing the value of democracy is arguably an indicator of the loss of faith in the importance of voting. Thus, it can be surmised that those of younger ages may not be inclined to vote during elections.
Demographics of Oklahoma
In 2000, 6.8% of Oklahoma's population was reported as under 5, 25.9% under 18, and 13.2% was 65 or older. Females made up approximately 50.9% of the population. The state has an above-average birth rate than most of the United States. Oklahoma has dealt with many socioeconomic issues, as the state's rank of annual household income is below national average and the state's poverty rate exceeds 15 percent, higher in rural areas. The state's 2000 per capita personal income was $23,517, 43rd in the nation. However, Oklahoma's cost of living index also among the lowest in the nation.[1] Oklahoma City suburb Nichols Hills is ranked first on Oklahoma locations by per capita income at $73,661.
Voter turnout
Demographics also have an effect. Older people tend to vote more than youths, so societies where the average age is somewhat higher, such as Europe; have higher turnouts than somewhat younger countries such as the United States. Populations that are more mobile and those that have lower marriage rates tend to have lower turnout. In countries that are highly multicultural and multilingual, it can be difficult for national election campaigns to engage all sectors of the population.
History of the socialist movement in the United States
According to a November 2017 YouGov poll, a majority of Americans aged 21 to 29 prefer socialism to capitalism and believe that the American economic system is working against them. In the same month, 15 members of the DSA were elected to various local and state governmental positions around the country in the United States elections, 2017. Tracing its lineage from the New Left to Norman Thomas and Eugene Debs, by 2017 the DSA was the largest Socialist organization in the United States. As of September 2018, membership stood at 50,000, and the number of local chapters had increased from 40 to 181.
Brigade Media
As technology has advanced, it was assumed that the average individual would have further access to voting, and therefore, voting numbers would increase. Instead, voter turnout at the elections remains low, with numbers at the presidential elections between 50% and 60% of the US population in the last 50 years. At the midterm election of 2014, only 36.4% of people voted, the lowest percentage since 1942. It is hoped that civic technology will incentivize and educate its users to vote. Brigade's voter ballot was an attempt as a civic technology platform to increase voter participation as well as educate its users about candidates and propositions.
Student governments in the United States
Average voter turnout in all 4,700 student governments nationwide is in the range of 4 percent, according to the ASGA SG database. This number is negatively skewed by poor participation overall in SG at the more than 2,000 American community and technical colleges which have larger commuter and non-traditional populations and therefore have less emphasis on traditional student services and programs such as student government. State universities and colleges tend to have a 10-15 percent voter turnout, while private colleges tend to be 15-20 percent, but can have much higher totals, sometimes into 40 percent or higher, according to ASGA. Online voting is used by 72% of American student governments, according to ASGA's 2012 SG Elections nationwide research study.
2008 United States presidential election
The voter turnout for this election was broadly predicted to be high by American standards, and a record number of votes were cast. The final tally of total votes counted was 131.3 million, compared to 122.3 million in 2004 (which also boasted the highest record since 1968, the last presidential election before the voting age was lowered to 18). Expressed as a percentage of eligible voters, 131.2 million votes could reflect a turnout as high as 63.0% of eligible voters, which would be the highest since 1960. This 63.0% turnout rate is based on an estimated eligible voter population of 208,323,000. Another estimate puts the eligible voter population at 213,313,508, resulting in a turnout rate of 61.6%, which would be the highest turnout rate since 1968.
Voter turnout in the United States presidential elections
The passage of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution gave African American men the right to vote. While this historic expansion of rights resulted in significant increases in the eligible voting population, and may have contributed to the increases in the proportion of votes cast for president as a percentage of the total population during the 1870s, there does not seem to have been a significant long-term increase in the percentage of eligible voters who turn out for the poll. The disenfranchisement of most African Americans and many poor whites in the South during the years 1890-1910 likely contributed to the decline in overall voter turnout percentages during those years visible in the chart at the top of the article. Ethnicity has had an effect on voter turnout in recent years as well, with data from recent elections such as 2008 showing much lower turnout among people identifying as Hispanic or Asian ethnicity than other voters (see chart to the right).
Democratic Party (United States)
According to national media exit polling, LGBT Americans typically vote Democratic in national elections within the 70–77% range. In heavily gay precincts in large cities across the nation, the average was higher, ranging from 85–94%. This trend has continued since 1996 when Bill Clinton won 71% of the LGBT vote compared to Bob Dole's 16% and 13% for others. In 2000, Al Gore won 70% to George W. Bush's 25% with 5% for others, in 2004 John Kerry won 77% to George W. Bush's 23%, in 2008 Barack Obama won 70% to John McCain's 27% with 3% to others and in 2012 Barack Obama won 76% to Mitt Romney's 22% with 2% to others. Patrick Egan, a professor of politics at New York University specializing in LGBT voting patterns, calls this a "remarkable continuity", saying that "about three-fourths vote Democratic and one-fourth Republican from year to year". Notable LGBT Democrats include current Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and current Representatives Jared Polis of Colorado and David Cicilline of Rhode Island. The late activist and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk was a Democrat as is former Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts. The National Stonewall Democrats is an LGBT advocacy group associated with the Democratic Party. The LGBT Equality Caucus is a congressional caucus of 97 Democrats and 3 Republicans that work and advocate for LGBT rights within the House of Representatives.
Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution
While perceived as politically neutral and only somewhat liberal-leaning at the time of passage in 1961, the District swung dramatically toward the Democratic Party in the years after passage. African-Americans voted in greater numbers than they had in the 1940s and 1950s with the clearing away of restrictions on the vote, and their share of the District electorate increased - according to the 1970 census, 71% of the Federal District was black, a dramatic jump. Accordingly, the District has sent its 3 electoral votes to the Democratic candidate in every single presidential election since 1964, including the 1984 landslide re-election of President Reagan, where only the District of Columbia and Minnesota voted for Democratic candidate Walter Mondale. The District's electoral votes have yet to prove decisive in a presidential election. The smallest Electoral College majority won by a Democratic president since the Twenty-third Amendment's ratification was the 56 vote majority achieved by Jimmy Carter in 1976.
Youth vote in the United States
In the United States, there has been legislation passed that helped youth access the vote. The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), often called the "motor-voter" law, passed in 1993, allows those 18 years and older to register to vote at a driver's license office or public assistance agency. The law also required states to accept a uniform mail-in voter registration application. Additionally, some states have extended the period in which citizens can vote instead of requiring a vote within 12 hours on a single day.
Youth smoking
In 2016, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that upwards of 4 million middle school and high school students in the United States currently used tobacco products. National epidemiological surveys often deliver key findings on the proportion of youth that are consuming tobacco. The National Youth Tobacco Surveys (NYTS) was designed to provide data on middle school and high school students tobacco behaviors, as well as attitudes, beliefs, and exposure to pro- and anti- tobacco influences. Results from the 2011-2016 NYTS revealed that approximately 20.2% of high school students (grades 9-12) reported current tobacco use, which was defined as having used any tobacco product in the past 30 days. In further support of these findings, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is a prominent epidemiological survey that assesses national and state-level information on alcohol, tobacco, illicit drug use, as well as mental health, in the United States. The NSDUH defines current cigarette smoking as smoking all or part of a cigarette over the past 30 days. The 2012 NSDUH survey revealed that 6.6% of youth between the ages of 12 and 17 were current cigarette smokers. Females and males had similar prevalence estimates, 6.3% and 6.8% respectively. The demographic breakdown was such that Caucasian youth exhibited the greatest prevalence of smoking (8.2%), followed by Hispanic or Latino youth (4.8%) and African-American youth (4.1%). Breakdown by age revealed the age range between 16 and 17 had highest prevalence (13.6%), followed by the 14 to 15 age range (4.6%), and the 12 to 13 age range (1.2%). In terms of socioeconomic status, there was a greater prevalence of youth currently smoking below the poverty level (7.6%) than at or above the poverty level (6.2%). An examination of regional differences across the United States demonstrated the highest prevalence of smoking among adolescents in the Midwest (7.8%) and South (7.2%) regions, followed by the Northeast (5.7%) and West (5.1%) regions. Results from these epidemiological studies underscore the continued prevalence of cigarette smoking among adolescents. Prevention and control measures that reduce smoking in among adolescents can improve the nation's short- and long-term health
Jeffrey Arnett
Currently, it is appropriate to define adolescence as the period spanning ages 10 to 18. This is because people in this age group in the United States typically live at home with their parents, are undergoing pubertal changes, attend middle schools or junior high schools, and are involved in a "school-based peer culture". All of these characteristics are no longer normative after the age of 18, and it is therefore considered inappropriate to call the late teenage years and early twenties "adolescence" or "late adolescence". Furthermore, in the United States, the age of 18 is the age at which people are able to legally vote.
Electoral reform in the United States
This $3 billion per year is about $10 for each of the 316 million people in the US, $23 for each of the 130 million people who voted in 2012.
Federal Voting Assistance Program
Many U.S. citizens who have never resided in a state or territory are not entitled to vote under current state law. These citizens are voting age children of U.S. citizens eligible to vote under UOCAVA themselves. Absent the decisions made by these children’s parents to reside overseas, these disenfranchised children of UOCAVA voters would likely otherwise be allowed to vote. Therefore, FVAP urges that these U.S. citizens be allowed to vote in elections for federal offices in the state in which either parent is eligible to vote under UOCAVA.
Youth vote in the United States
The voting process has two steps. An eligible voter - a U.S. citizen over the age of 18 - must first register to vote and then commit the act of voting. The voting process is regulated by each state individually and therefore varies from state to state.
The process of registering to vote is different depending on the state. Pre-registration is available to youth under the age of 18 in 20 states and Washington D.C. Potential voters may also register on Election Day - or on the day on which they vote early - in 10 states and Washington D.C. This may be done at the polling place or at an election official's office. Residents of the 40 states which do not allow same day registration require potential voters to register by a deadline, typically from eight to 30 days out from the election. Over half of the states in the U.S. offer some sort or online voter registration. This consists of the same process as a paper registration form, only it is digital on the internet and send to election officials to review over the web. This process was first introduced in Arizona in 2002. 
There are different regulations on the time and avenue through which a citizen can vote. Early voting is available in 33 states and Washington D.C. This must be done in person at a designated polling place. Early voting period lengths vary from state to state. If a potential voter is not able to vote in person on Election Day or during the early voting period, they may request an absentee ballot. In 20 states, an excuse must be filed to receive the absentee ballot. In 27 states and Washington D.C., a voter may acquire an absentee ballot without an excuse. In Washington, Oregon and Colorado all voting is done through the mail. A ballot is mailed to the voters residence and after the voter fills it out, he/she may mail it back. No in person polls are conducted. Otherwise, the typical voting period is twelve hours on a weekday at which time voters must go to the polls in person and cast their votes.
Generation Z
A 2017 survey produced by MTV and the Public Religion Research Institute found that 72% of Americans aged 15 to 24 held unfavorable views of President Donald Trump. According to the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, U.S. members of Generation Z tend to be more conservative than Millennials. According to a survey of 83,298 Gen Z-aged students (defined here as those aged 14 to 18 in 2016) in the United States done by My College Options and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation in September and October 2016, 32% of participants supported Donald Trump, while 22% supported Hillary Clinton with 31% choosing to not vote in the election. The results were heavily divided along racial lines with White and Native American students favoring Trump by a 33-point and 20 point margin respectively, and Black and Hispanic students favoring Clinton by a 40-point and 22 point margin respectively. Asian students were more divided, favoring Clinton by a 10-point margin. By contrast, in a 2016 mock election of upper elementary, middle, and high school students conducted by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump among the students, with Clinton receiving 46% of the vote, Donald Trump receiving 41%, and other candidates receiving 12%.
Birch Bayh
As a state legislator in the 1950s, Bayh unsuccessfully worked to lower the voting age in Indiana. He continued his effort in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he also met opposition. In 1970, a new provision was added to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, lowering the voting age to 18 in all federal, state, and local elections. Then with the 1971 "Oregon v. Mitchell" decision, the Supreme Court ruled that state and local elections did not have to abide by the lowered voting age, though there would have to be dual elections in the 47 states where the lower federal voting age was not valid. Faced with another constitutional crisis, Bayh's subcommittee quickly began hearings on an amendment to lower the voting age to 18. What became the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution passed through Congress within weeks of the Supreme Court's decision, and was ratified by the states within months. In the decades since its enactment, the amendment has enfranchised millions of Americans who would have been otherwise shut out.
Asian Americans in government and politics
Asian Americans have a high level of political incorporation in terms of their actual voting population. However, as a result of this group's historically low voting rates, overall political incorporation of the general population is relatively low. Although the population of this group has increased in size by 600% in 30 years due to immigration, heavy naturalization and voter outreach efforts have provided this primarily foreign-born community with less than 1% of voters. The low political incorporation of Asian Americans has posed a concern especially when the fact that the group is the fastest growing demographic in the U.S. is taken into account.
Voter apathy
Voter registration in the United States is an independent responsibility, so citizens choose whether they want to register or not. This led to only 64% of the voting age population being registered to vote in 2016. The United States is one of the sole countries that requires its citizens to register separately from voting. The lack of automatic registration contributes to the issue that there are over a third of eligible citizen in the United States that are not registered to vote.
23rd Legislative District (New Jersey)
As of the 2010 United States Census, the district had a population of 222,972, of whom 175,967 (76.5%) were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 208,724 (90.8%) White, 7,216 (3.1%) African American, 319 (0.1%) Native American, 6,670 (2.9%) Asian, 67 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 3,484 (1.5%) from some other race, and 3,492 (1.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14,158 (6.2%) of the population. The 23rd District had 149,807 registered voters as of November 30, 2017, of whom 59,249 (39.6%) were registered as unaffiliated, 52,395 (35.0%) were registered as Republicans, 37,358 (24.9%) were registered as Democrats, and 805 (0.5%) were registered to other parties.
Voter suppression in the United States
According to the Brennan Center for Justice's 2013 Report "Early Voting: What Works", there are many benefits to early voting including shorter lines on election day, more access to voting and increased satisfaction of voters. In 2012 32% of voters voted early.
Social loafing
One example is voting in the United States. Even though most people say that voting is important, and a right that should be exercised, every election a sub-optimal percentage of Americans turn out to vote, especially in presidential elections (only 51 percent in the 2000 election). One vote may feel very small in a group of millions, so people may not think a vote is worth the time and effort. If too many people think this way, there is a small voter turnout. Some countries enforce compulsory voting to eliminate this effect.
1970 United States Virgin Islands voting age referendum
A referendum on the voting age was held in the United States Virgin Islands on 3 November 1970. After the Legislature of the Islands requested a referendum take place, it was approved by the United States Congress on 6 October 1970. Voters were given the options of 18, 19, 20 or 21, and the winning option had to receive an absolute majority of the vote. Although the results saw 55.67% vote in favour of setting the voting age at 18, when the blank votes were included, this dropped to 46.71%. A lawsuit was subsequently filed on 1 December 1970, and on 21 January 1971 a court decided that the blank ballots should be discarded, giving the 18 option an absolute majority of votes.
Young Voters for the President
Rietz identified that young voters were enthusiastic about some of Nixon's policies – such as ending military conscription – but ambivalent about the president himself and he, therefore, embarked on an effort to bridge the gap between the two. Rietz also determined that non-college youth were more likely to support Nixon than college-enrolled youth and that the former group significantly outnumbered the latter. Outreach efforts by Young Voters for the President have been credited with helping Nixon capture 48 percent of 18 to 24 year-old voters, and 52 percent of under 30 voters, in the 1972 presidential contest. Nixon ultimately won that election with roughly 61-percent of the popular vote and 97-percent of the electoral vote.
Voting rights in the United States
Eligibility to vote in the United States is established both through the federal constitution and by state law. Several constitutional amendments (the 15th, 19th, and 26th specifically) require that voting rights cannot be abridged on account of race, color, previous condition of servitude, sex, or age for those above 18; the constitution as originally written did not establish any such rights during 1787–1870. In the absence of a specific federal law or constitutional provision, each state is given considerable discretion to establish qualifications for suffrage and candidacy within its own respective jurisdiction; in addition, states and lower level jurisdictions establish election systems, such as at-large or single member district elections for county councils or school boards.
Alex Koroknay-Palicz
Koroknay-Palicz currently lives in Takoma Park, Maryland and served on the city's voting rights taskforce after Takoma Park became the first city in the United States to lower its voting age to 16. Testified in support of successful 16-year-old voting age bills in Takoma Park and Hyattsville, Maryland. He currently works for the National Association of Counties and in October 2014 married Tricia Gonwa. In 2015 he resumed his involvement in the National Youth Rights Association after a three-year absence. He currently serves on NYRA's Board of Directors and is organizing the #16tovote Coalition in support of the 16-year-old voting age bill in Washington, DC.
Voter turnout
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Youth suffrage
A proposal to lower the voting age from 18 to 16 was defeated in the Venezuelan constitutional referendum, 2007.
Demeny voting is the idea that parents would cast votes on behalf of their children thereby ensuring that the interests of children were properly accounted for in the voting system. Most young people do not support themselves financially and are reliant upon parents for support, thus parental voting power should be proportionate to the number of dependents, especially where government benefits are concerned, to appropriately counterbalance the interests of the childless. Essentially, a case for "no taxation without representation." However, as children and their parents often have differing political, social, and economic interests, it is doubtful demeny voting would result in any significant advances of youth interests in government.
Youth vote in the United States
The winner-take-all system in the United States limits the success of third party candidates who may have a difficult time achieving an electoral majority. Young people are increasingly supporting third party candidates, though the American political system has continued to foster a two-party system. In 1992, Ross Perot, a third party candidate for president, won 22 percent of the eighteen-to-twenty-four-year-old vote, his strongest performance among any demographic group". These third party candidates who gain such support from the youth of the U.S. do not benefit from major party coffers - they must campaign by themselves.
Third-hand smoke
Smoking rates in the United States have fallen considerably from a high of 42.4% in 1965 to around 17.8% in 2016. But the downward trend is slowing and it is estimated that 23% to 42% of adults in America with low education or living in poverty still smoke. This exposes millions of nonsmokers, many of which are children.
Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution
James J. Kilpatrick, a political columnist, asserted that the states were "extorted into ratifying the Twenty-sixth Amendment". In his article, he claims that by passing the 1970 extension to the Voting Rights Act, Congress effectively forced the States to ratify the amendment lest they be forced to financially and bureaucratically cope with maintaining two voting registers. George Gallup also mentions the cost of registration in his article showing percentages favoring or opposing the amendment, and he draws particular attention to the lower rates of support among adults aged 30–49 and over 50 (57% and 52% respectively) as opposed to those aged 18–20 and 21–29 (84% and 73% respectively).
Nationwide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election
Would you be willing to vote for a seventy-two year old candidate in 2008?
Presidency of Richard Nixon
When Congress extended the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in 1970 it included a provision lowering the age qualification to vote in all elections—federal, state, and local—to 18. Later that year, in "Oregon v. Mitchell" (1970), the Supreme Court held that Congress had the authority to lower the voting age qualification in federal elections, but not the authority to do so in state and local elections. Nixon sent a letter to Congress supporting a constitutional amendment to lower the voting age, and Congress quickly moved forward with a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing the 18 year-old vote. Sent to the states for ratification on March 23, 1971, the proposal became the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution on July 1, 1973, after being ratified by the requisite number of states (38).
Latino vote
Another explanation for low levels of Latino voter turnout stems from the relatively young age of the Latino population. For example, 40 percent of the California Latino population was under eighteen years of age in 1985.
Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Congress lowered the national voting age to 18 in a 1970 bill that extended the Voting Rights Act, but the Supreme Court subsequently held in the case of "Oregon v. Mitchell" that Congress could not lower the voting age for state and local elections. Shortly after that ruling, Congress proposed and the states ratified the Twenty-sixth Amendment, which constitutionally enshrined voting rights for individuals between 18 and 21 years old.
Youth vote in the United States
In nine out of ten elections, the candidate who spends the most money is elected. The average cost of a successful campaign for the United States House of Representatives is nearly half a million dollars. A large portion of this money comes from "large individual contributions" – an average of 74 percent of the campaign funds raised in the 2012 presidential election between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were large individual contributions. An average of 25 percent of presidential campaign funds in 2012 were made in "small individual contributions." The Supreme Court rulings on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010 and SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission allowed corporations and individuals to donate directly to political action committees (PACs), Super PACs, or 501(c)(4)s which could then spend unlimited amounts of money on campaigns of their own. The general perception of this system is that in turn for such large donations, candidates will vote in accordance to their large donors to ensure future donations during their reelection bid and pay the smaller donors slight attention. When the media reports that on campaign finance scandals, it is portrayed as a solitary incident with no connection to later policy outcomes. Americans have become so accustomed to the power of money in politics they are not surprised when a scandal occurs. The future for the influence of large donors is unlikely to change because the lawmakers with the power to create and pass campaign finance reform are those who benefit most from the large donations when their term is up and they must run reelection campaigns.
Young voter turnout in Canada
Younger Canadians tend to be less interested in politics: Only one in 20 Canadians between 18 and 30 years of age (in 2000) had ever belonged to a political party, compared with one-third of those over age 60. There is concern whether a failure to engage younger Canadians early will have a detrimental effect on our democracy over time. "There is no question that over the past two decades, we have seen youth voting rates declining at a precipitous rate to the point where clear majorities of the younger generations don't vote and may well never do so."
Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Subsequently, Oregon and Texas challenged the law in court, and the case came before the Supreme Court in 1970 as "Oregon v. Mitchell". By this time, four states had a minimum voting age below 21: Georgia, Kentucky, Alaska and Hawaii.
Voter turnout
For the denominator, it is often assumed that the number of eligible voters was well defined, but again, this is not the case. In the United States, for example, there is no accurate registry of exactly who is eligible to vote, since only about 70–75% of people choose to register themselves. Thus, turnout has to be calculated based on population estimates. Some political scientists have argued that these measures do not properly account for the large number of illegal aliens, disenfranchised felons and persons who are considered 'mentally incompetent' in the United States, and that American voter turnout is higher than is normally reported. Professor Michael P. McDonald constructed an estimation of the turnout against the 'voting eligible population' (VEP), instead of the 'voting age population' (VAP). For the American presidential elections of 2004, turnout could then be expressed as 60.32% of VEP, rather than 55.27% of VAP.
History of the socialist movement in the United States
An April 2009 Rasmussen Reports poll conducted during the financial crisis of 2007–2010 (which many believe resulted due to lack of regulation in the financial markets) suggested that there had been a growth of support for socialism in the United States. The poll results stated that 53% of American adults thought capitalism was better than socialism and that "[a]dults under 30 are essentially evenly divided: 37% prefer capitalism, 33% socialism, and 30% are undecided". In a 2011 Pew poll, young Americans between the ages of 18–29 favored socialism to capitalism by 49% to 43%, but Americans overall had a negative view of socialism, with 60% opposing. According to a 2015 Gallup poll, 47% of American citizens would vote for a socialist candidate for President.
Youth suffrage
Youth suffrage, or children's suffrage, is the right of youth to vote and forms part of the broader youth rights movement. Until recently Iran had a voting age of 15; Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua have a voting age of 16; and Indonesia, East Timor, Sudan, and Seychelles have a voting age of 17.
Article One of the United States Constitution
At the time of its creation, the Constitution did not explicitly give citizens an inherent right to vote. Rather, it provided that those qualified to vote in elections for the largest chamber of a state's legislature could vote in Congressional (House of Representatives) elections. Since the Civil War, several constitutional amendments have been enacted that have curbed the states' broad powers to set voter qualification standards. Though never enforced, clause 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that "when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State." The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. The Nineteenth Amendment prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on sex. The Twenty-fourth Amendment prohibits the revocation of voting rights due to the non-payment of a poll tax. The Twenty-sixth Amendment prohibits the denial of the right of US citizens, eighteen years of age or older, to vote on account of age.
Voter suppression
In the United States, elections are administered locally, and forms of voter suppression vary among jurisdictions. At the founding of the country, the right to vote in most states was limited to property-owning white males. Over time, the right to vote was formally granted to racial minorities, women, and youth. During the later 19th and early 20th centuries, Southern states passed Jim Crow laws to suppress poor and racial minority voters – such laws included poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses. Most of these voter suppression tactics were made illegal after the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 2013, discriminatory voter ID laws arose following the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, which some argue amount to voter suppression among African-Americans.
History of democracy
In the United States of America, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act enforced the 15th Amendment. The 24th Amendment ended poll taxing by removing all tax placed upon voting, which was a technique commonly used to restrict the African American vote. The Voting Rights Act also granted voting rights to all Native Americans, irrespective of their home state. The minimum voting age was reduced to 18 by the 26th Amendment in 1971.
District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment
Ratification by the legislatures of at least 38 of the 50 states by August 22, 1985, was necessary for the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment to become part of the Constitution. During the seven-year period specified by Congress it was ratified by only 16 states and so failed to be adopted. The amendment was ratified by the following states:Had it been adopted, this proposed amendment would have given the District of Columbia full representation in both houses of the Congress. Also, this proposed amendment would have repealed the Twenty-third Amendment. The Twenty-third Amendment does not allow the District to have more electoral votes "than the least populous State", nor does it grant the District any role in the election of a President by the House of Representatives (or that of the Vice President by the Senate). In contrast, this proposed amendment would have provided the District full participation in the Electoral College. Finally, the proposed amendment would have also allowed the Council of the District of Columbia, the Congress, or the people of the District (depending on how this proposed amendment would have been interpreted) to decide whether to ratify any proposed amendment to the Constitution, or to apply to the Congress for a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution, just as a state's legislature can pursuant to the Constitutional amendment process. The amendment would neither have made the District a state, nor affected Congress's authority over it.
Political apathy
In the 2012 presidential election in the U.S., turnout was 54.87% and in the midterm elections of 2014 there was a historic low of 36.7% turnout to the elections. In a study conducted by YouGov, the question "Suppose that you alone could determine whether a Democrat or a Republican represents your Congressional district by paying a specific dollar amount. How much would you be willing to pay to ensure that a Congressman from your preferred party will win the office?" was as asked to multiple American. 55% of the people answered that they would contribute nothing to help their district. This study concluded that some Americans are not interested enough in politics to put hypothetical money to a candidate. Based on government data, in the last 60 years eligible voters that have cast a ballot has ranged from 49 to 63%. The highest turnout occurred in the 1960 election in which President John F. Kennedy was elected, while the lowest turnout occurred in 1996 with the election for President Bill Clinton.
Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The decision resulted in states being able to maintain 21 as the voting age in state and local elections, but being required to establish separate voter rolls so that voters between 18 and 20 years old could vote in federal elections.
Age of candidacy
In the United States, many groups have attempted to lower age of candidacy requirements in various states. In 1994, South Dakota voters rejected a ballot measure that would have lowered the age requirements to serve as a State Senator or State Representative from 30 to 18. In 1998, however, they approved a similar ballot measure that reduced the age requirements for those offices from 25 to 21. In 2002, Oregon voters rejected a ballot measure that would have reduced the age requirement to serve as a State Representative from 21 to 18.
Frontlash
Frontlash conducted its first voter registration campaign in 1968. Passage of the 26th Amendment in July 1970 lowered the voting age to 18. The AFL-CIO became, with only minor exceptions, Frontlash's financial backer and essentially took over the organization. Kemble, whose interest in the organization had waned, stepped down and Charlotte Roe became the group's executive director. Frontlash's 1972 voter registration effort was extensive, focusing on the top 12 most heavily industrialized states. Frontlash's strategy was to go door-to-door and register voters. The organization also co-sponsored a Youth In Politics Institute to teach high school students their rights as voters and motivate them to get involved in politics. Frontlash also worked with the United Federation of Teachers to produce a film about voting rights which was subsequently distributed to high schools across the country. Frontlash tended to register about 3 Democrats for every 1 Republican.
Unmanned combat aerial vehicle
In 2013 a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll asked registered voters whether they "approve or disapprove of the U.S. Military using drones to carry out attacks abroad on people and other targets deemed a threat to the U.S.?" The results showed that three in every four (75%) of voters approved of the U.S. Military using drones to carry out attacks, while (13%) disapproved. A poll conducted by the Huffington Post in 2013 also showed a majority supporting targeted killings using drones, albeit by a smaller margin. A 2015 poll showed Republicans and men are more likely to support U.S. drone strikes, while Democrats and Independents, women, young people, and minorities are less supportive.
Sports betting
In a different study released by FDU’s PublicMind in October 2011, results showed that New Jersey voters thought legalizing sports betting in New Jersey was a good idea. Half of New Jersey voters (52%) said that they approved the idea of legalizing sports betting at Atlantic City casinos and racetracks, 31% opposed it. In addition, there was a significant gender split: a majority of men approved of the idea by a wide margin (65-21), while only 39% of women approved and 41% opposed. The October results were stable, reflecting an earlier poll in April 2011 where New Jersey voters approved the legalization of sports betting in the state by a margin of 53%-30%. However, nearly two-thirds (66%) of voters were not aware of the upcoming statewide referendum on the issue. Age proved to be a divide: voters between the ages 18 and 34 were more likely to approve of sports betting than were older voters. Dr. Woolley commented: "But... younger voters... are far less likely to vote than other voters... As always, a lot depends on who actually shows up to vote."
Hispanic and Latino Americans
The United States has a population of 50 million of Hispanic and Latino Americans, of them, 27 Million are citizens eligible to vote (13% of total eligible voters), therefore Hispanics have a very important effect on presidential elections since the vote difference between two main parties is usually around 4%.
Youth vote in the United States
Young adults are "over-represented among all computer and Internet users" – three fourths of Americans under the age of 18 are able to access a computer and, on average, use it for half an hour a day. As the Internet and computers have become more accessible to youth, such methods have been used to seek and find information and share it on social media cites. Websites such as Facebook and YouTube not only allow youth who don't subscribe to newspapers or watch the evening news to stay on top of the polls, but also allows them to share their opinions of the polls and candidates. If the use of technology were to be fully integrated into politics, the youth and adult groups would be equally active in politics.
Online news media, in particular, is believed to have a positive impact on young citizens due to its interactivity.
It not only provides them with the information they need to form their political beliefs and to become more informed regarding democracy and to gain a better understanding of current issues. But, it also provides them with a platform to discuss these ideas with other individuals, not only on a more localized scale but also on a global scale.
Voter turnout in the United States presidential elections
broadest historical trends in voter turnout in the United States presidential elections have been determined by the gradual expansion of voting rights from the initial restriction to male property owners aged twenty-one or older in the early years of the country's independence, to all citizens aged eighteen or older in the mid-twentieth century. Voter turnout in the presidential elections has historically been better than the turnout for midterm elections.
Millennials
Surveys of political attitudes among millennials in the United Kingdom have suggested increasingly social liberal views, as well as higher overall support for classical liberal economic policies than preceding generations. They are more likely to support same-sex marriage and the legalization of drugs. "The Economist" parallels this with millennials in the United States, whose attitudes are more supportive of social liberal policies and same-sex marriage relative to other demographics. They are also more likely to oppose animal testing for medical purposes than older generations. Pew Research described millennials as "the force of the youth vote" and as part of the political conversation which helped elect the first U.S. black president, describing millennials as between 12 and 27 during the 2008 U.S Presidential election.
Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution
In 1888, a bill to amend the Constitution was introduced in Congress by Senator Henry Blair of New Hampshire to grant District of Columbia voting rights in presidential elections, but it did not proceed. Theodore W. Noyes, a writer of the "Washington Evening Star", published a number of stories in support of D.C. voting rights. Noyes also helped found the Citizens' Joint Committee on National Representation for the District of Columbia, a citizen's group which lobbied Congress to pass an amendment expanding D.C. voting rights. Noyes died in 1946, but the Citizens' Joint Committee continued onward, and the issue of District voting rights began to be seen as similar to the civil rights movement. A split developed between advocates for greater power for the District after World War II. The "Evening Star", continuing in the Noyes mold, supported D.C. representation in Congress and the electoral college, but opposed "home rule" (locally elected mayors and councils with actual power, rather than direct rule by Congress). "The Washington Post", however, supported "home rule" and civil rights, but opposed full-fledged representation for the District. Additionally, while many of the people leading the push were liberal Democrats, the District of Columbia in the 1950s was fairly balanced in its potential voting impact; Democrats had only a slight edge over Republicans, although District Republicans in the 1950s were liberal by national standards. Thus, an amendment to grant the District increased voting powers was able to gain bipartisan support in a way that would have been more difficult later. Only 28% of the District was African-American according to the 1940 census, and the black population was young compared to other residents, making the voting electorate even smaller due to the voting age of 21. This grew to 54% in the 1960 census, but according to political scientist Clement E. Vose, "various factors—inexperience in voting, educational handicaps, residency requirements, welfare laws, and social ostracism before the Voting Rights Act of 1965—minimized black registration and voting".
Democratic Party (United States)
Studies have shown that younger voters tend to vote mostly for Democratic candidates in recent years. Despite supporting Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, the young have voted in favor of the Democratic presidential candidate in every election since Bill Clinton in 1992 and are more likely to identify as liberals than the general population. In the 2004 presidential election, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry received 54% of the vote from voters of the age group 18–29 while Republican George W. Bush received 45% of the vote from the same age group. In the 2006 midterm elections, the Democrats received 60% of the vote from the same age group. Polls suggest that younger voters tend to be more liberal than the general population and have more liberal views than the public on same-sex marriage and universal healthcare, helping Barack Obama carry 66% of their votes in 2008. The Young Democrats of America are an affiliated organization of members of the party younger than 36 that advocates for youth issues and works for youth voter turnout.
United States presidential election
Voter turnout in the 2004 and 2008 elections showed a noticeable increase over the turnout in 1996 and 2000. Prior to 2004, voter turnout in presidential elections had been decreasing while voter registration, measured in terms of voting age population (VAP) by the U.S. Census, has been increasing. The VAP figure, however, includes persons ineligible to vote – mainly non-citizens and ineligible felons – and excludes overseas eligible voters. Opinion is mixed on whether this decline was due to voter apathy. or an increase in ineligible voters on the rolls.
The difference between these two measures are illustrated by analysis of turnout in the 2004 and 2008 elections. Voter turnout from the 2004 and 2008 election was "not statistically different," based on the voting age population used by a November 2008 U.S. Census survey of 50,000 households. If expressed in terms of vote eligible population (VEP), the 2008 national turnout rate was 61.7% from 131.3 million ballots cast for president, an increase of over 1.6 percentage points over the 60.1% turnout rate of 2004, and the highest since 1968.
Woman
Women are underrepresented in government in most countries. In October 2013, the global average of women in national assemblies was 22%. [[Suffrage]] is the civil right to [[vote]]. [[Women's suffrage in the United States]] was achieved gradually, first at state and local levels, starting in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and in 1920 women in the US received universal suffrage, with the passage of the [[Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]]. Some Western countries were slow to allow women to vote; notably [[Switzerland]], where women gained the right to vote in federal elections in 1971, and in the canton of [[Appenzell Innerrhoden]] women were granted the right to vote on local issues only in 1991, when the canton was forced to do so by the [[Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland]]; and [[Liechtenstein]], in 1984, through [[Liechtenstein women's suffrage referendum, 1984|a women's suffrage referendum]].
Jennings Randolph
Randolph was best known for sponsoring eleven times an amendment to the Constitution that would grant citizens aged between 18 and 21 the right to vote. He first introduced the amendment in 1942, arguing that young soldiers fighting in World War II should be able to vote. In 1970 amendments to the Voting Rights Act lowered the voting age to 18 in both local and national elections. After the Supreme Court found in "Oregon v. Mitchell" that Congress only had the power to lower the voting age to 18 for national elections, and no power to lower it for state elections, Randolph was among the Senators who reintroduced the amendment. It was ratified by three-fourths of the states in 1971 as the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, 107 days after it was approved by Congress.
Voting age
In 2015, federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said that the voting age should be lowered to 16.
Voting age population
Voting age population (VAP) refers to the set of individuals that have reached the minimum voting age for a particular geographical or political unit. The presumption is that they are therefore generally eligible to vote, although other additional factors may cause them to be ineligible, such as lack of citizenship or a prior felony conviction. In estimating voter turnout the voting age population for a political unit is often used as the denominator for the number of individuals eligible to vote in a given election; this method has been shown to lose in accuracy when a larger percentage of the VAP is ineligible to vote. In the United States individuals become eligible to vote in political elections at age 18.
Youth politics
Between the influence of mainstream media and politicians, youth politics in the United States has been illegitimated and deprioritized. Organizations such as National Youth Rights Association and The Freechild Project continue to advocate and educate for issues that affect young people specifically, while other organizations, including Youth Service America and Advocates for Youth work for issues that affect youth directly. The children's rights movement is widely credited with keeping youth politics on the national radar, while other fledgling movements such as youth voice and youth participation have yet to gain the spotlight.Even with the efforts of these organizations, many college students do not see politics as an important part of their lives. Only 33% of college freshman think being knowledgeable about politics to be important. Data collected in by the National Center for Education Statistics found that overall young Americans care more about entertainment and sports than political and foreign news. Despite these statistics there is a positive outlook on youth involvement in the future because of the 2008 election when President Barack Obama ran.
Youth in the Dominican Republic
The Law for the System of Protection regulates the treatment of minors from birth to age 18. This law states that children under the age of 13 are not criminally liable, while youth ages 13–18 are. The electoral participation rate in the Dominican Republic is higher than the Latin America average, as over 77.3 percent indicated they had voted in the last election. Younger residents between the ages of 18-25 had a 29.2 percent voting rate, compared to 75.6 percent in the 26-35 year age range.
Postal voting
In Texas, some electoral fraud has occurred over the years involving political operatives illegally aiding those eligible to vote by mail, usually voters over 65 years of age or voters with a disability. The overall rates of voter fraud are estimated to be low, with one study finding 2,068 cases of alleged voter fraud in the U.S. since 2000. In Oregon, where approximately 100 million ballots have been cast since the state went to 100% vote by mail in 2000, about 12 cases of voter fraud have been prosecuted.
United States
The U.S. teenage pregnancy rate is 26.5 per 1,000 women. The rate has declined by 57% since 1991. In 2013, the highest teenage birth rate was in Alabama, and the lowest in Wyoming. Abortion is legal throughout the U.S., owing to "Roe v. Wade", a 1973 landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. While the abortion rate is falling, the abortion ratio of 241 per 1,000 live births and abortion rate of 15 per 1,000 women aged 15–44 remain higher than those of most Western nations. In 2013, the average age at first birth was 26 and 40.6% of births were to unmarried women.
Civil liberties in the United States
The extent of civil liberties and the periphery of the population of the United States who had access to these liberties has expanded over time. For example, the Constitution did not originally define who was eligible to vote, allowing each state to determine who was eligible. In the early history of the U.S., most states allowed only white male adult property owners to vote (about 6% of the population). The 'Three-Fifths Compromise' allowed the southern slaveholders to consolidate power and maintain slavery in America for eighty years after the ratification of the Constitution. And the Bill of Rights had little impact on judgements by the courts for the first 130 years after ratification.
Voter registration
A 2012 study by The Pew Charitable Trusts estimates that 24% of the voting-eligible population in the United States are not registered to vote, a percentage that represents "at least 51 million eligible U.S. citizens." Numerous states had a history of creating barriers to voter registration through a variety of fees, literacy or comprehension tests, and record-keeping requirements that in practice discriminated against racial or ethnic minorities, language minorities, and other groups. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 forbade such abuses and authorized federal oversight in jurisdictions of historic under-representation of certain groups. States continue to develop new practices that may discriminate against certain populations. By August 2016, federal rulings in five cases have overturned all or parts of voter registration or voter ID laws in Ohio, Texas, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and North Dakota that were found to place undue burden on minorities and other groups among voters. The states are required to offer alternatives for the November 2016 elections; many of these cases are expected to reach the US Supreme Court for additional hearings.
2004 United States presidential election
Percent of voting age population casting a vote for president: 56.70%