RSSLatest Research

In 2012, 60% of youth chose Obama, compared to 37% who chose Romney. In 2008, almost 66 percent of young voters chose Barack Obama over John McCain. That result has led some observers to assume that young people are consistently a Democratic constituency. But even in 2008, not all youth voted for President Obama. That year, 32% of young voters chose Senator McCain.

A new study by CIRCLE, "That's Not Democracy. How Out-of-School Youth Engage in Civic Life and What Stands in Their Way," finds that non-college young people lack organized and institutional opportunities to address large-scale social issues - reinforcing previous research. They often report helping individuals, and they discuss social issues in their own networks, but generally they do not connect these activities to making systemic or society-wide changes.

In 2008, young people turned out in great numbers to vote in the Presidential Elections. In 2012, there are approximately 46 million 18-to 29-year olds eligible to vote, approximately 16.8 million are new voters. Check out this state map to find out how many young people are eligible in your state.