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In fact, their turnout was flat, or even below, what it had been in 2016 primaries. This probably explains Sanders's "meh" performance on Super Tuesday.
It's concerning, because if young voters don't turn out well in November, especially in swing states, it's not good for Trump's eventual challenger. Now it's possible they were overconfident and lazy, because of Sanders's early victories. Or maybe a lot of them figured it doesn't really matter who the Democratic nominee is, because they'll vote for anyone who isn't Trump in November, so they didn't bother voting in the primary. Or maybe younger voters are more concerned than older voters about the coronavirus last week (it does not appears to be suppressing early voting across all demographics in other states with upcoming primaries--though overall voter participation on super Tuesday was up, only participation by younger voters was down). I hope it's one of these and not just young people deciding they don't care if Trump gets another term or not. A large turnout from younger voters may not be sufficient for Democrats to win in November, but it will almost certainly be necessary.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ie-sanders-expected/5e6018d6602ff10d49ac2c83/
I'll confess I never understood the overall low voter turnout among young people. I always voted in both primaries and in fall elections. There were so many issues that were highly relevant to my own life and future, and to the lives and futures of other people as well. I think I missed one "off year" election when I was still registered in my parent's town and it was all local seats, and I forgot to file for an absentee ballot. Other than that I've voted whenever I've had the chance, starting when I turned 18. I remember how "cool" some of my peers thought they were when they said they didn't vote because "both parties were assholes" etc. They'd tend to get angry when I asked them about third party candidates, and what about the propositions that are always on the ballot in CA, some of which affected college funding, people's rights, and other aspects of everyday life so on.
I guess it's the same general laziness that leads some college students to not bother obtaining a textbook, even when it's open source and free. It's disappointing, though.
It's concerning, because if young voters don't turn out well in November, especially in swing states, it's not good for Trump's eventual challenger. Now it's possible they were overconfident and lazy, because of Sanders's early victories. Or maybe a lot of them figured it doesn't really matter who the Democratic nominee is, because they'll vote for anyone who isn't Trump in November, so they didn't bother voting in the primary. Or maybe younger voters are more concerned than older voters about the coronavirus last week (it does not appears to be suppressing early voting across all demographics in other states with upcoming primaries--though overall voter participation on super Tuesday was up, only participation by younger voters was down). I hope it's one of these and not just young people deciding they don't care if Trump gets another term or not. A large turnout from younger voters may not be sufficient for Democrats to win in November, but it will almost certainly be necessary.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ie-sanders-expected/5e6018d6602ff10d49ac2c83/
I'll confess I never understood the overall low voter turnout among young people. I always voted in both primaries and in fall elections. There were so many issues that were highly relevant to my own life and future, and to the lives and futures of other people as well. I think I missed one "off year" election when I was still registered in my parent's town and it was all local seats, and I forgot to file for an absentee ballot. Other than that I've voted whenever I've had the chance, starting when I turned 18. I remember how "cool" some of my peers thought they were when they said they didn't vote because "both parties were assholes" etc. They'd tend to get angry when I asked them about third party candidates, and what about the propositions that are always on the ballot in CA, some of which affected college funding, people's rights, and other aspects of everyday life so on.
I guess it's the same general laziness that leads some college students to not bother obtaining a textbook, even when it's open source and free. It's disappointing, though.
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