As voters, teens and young adults don't have the best track records, especially in off-year or midterm elections.
In 2010, less than one-third of 18- to 29-year-olds in Washington state voted, and that's the age group's best turnout rate in more than two decades. By contrast, nearly two-thirds of older voters cast ballots.
But consider how election season can sound from a teen's point of view.
"There's things that I want to be engaged in. I try to listen, I try to be engaged, but it’s like all these old men droning on and on, and on," said Halley Norman, 18. "It’s not very engaging. It’s not something that makes me feel passionate about the issue."
Norman is already more politically-engaged than the average teen. Now in her final year at The Northwest School, a private middle and high school in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, Norman was required to log at least 18 volunteer hours for a political campaign this election season.
It's mandatory coursework for the school's 93 seniors, who campaigned for causes up and down the ballot, from municipal court judge candidates to the statewide gun background check Initiative 594, which Norman worked on. In the process, they've gained insight into a question that's taxed campaign strategists for decades: How can candidates turn out the youth vote?
But that question itself troubles some students, like Northwest School senior Maya Garfinkel, who says the narrative that young people don't vote can only serve to perpetuate "false perceptions" about teens and other groups underrepresented at the polls.
"There's this false perception that nobody cares — nobody cares about democracy, nobody cares about engaging in it. But I think that that's not true. And I've seen it not to be true," said Garfinkel, who logged her volunteer hours working on the campaign of state Senate candidate PramilaJayapal.
Through their work on these campaigns, the Northwest School students have arrived at several conclusions similar to the recommendations George Washington University's Young Voter Strategies project spells out in its "Mobilization Tactics" handbook. A few examples:
1. Make 'Nuts & Bolts' Accessible
The handbook says a surprising number of young voters need access to the "practical information about how to vote," and that campaigns reap great benefits from helping voters find that information.
Beyond that, Garfinkel echoes the handbook's discussion of "[making] the voting process easier" when she notes young people are more likely to move, making it easier for their ballot to get lost.
"There's also ways we can engage more young people by doing pre-registration to vote at age 16 and 17 at the Department of Licensing," Garfinkel said.
2. Don't Skip Youth When Calling And Knocking
"The research shows that the most effective method of generating a new voter is an in-person door knock by a peer," the GWU handbook notes.
But Garfinkel says she's frustrated when she hears of other campaigns passing over voters from groups with low turnout, like young voters, during phone banking and doorknocking.
"Writing young people off as, ‘Oh, they’re apathetic about the political process’ — well, then nothing’s going to happen," said Garfinkel.
The handbook also notes people can even be "cost-effective targets" among underserved immigrant groups. In that instance, there's less need to translate campaign literature into other languages; young voters are more likely to speak English.
"We should be calling the new voters, too," Norman added. "We don't know if they're going to be likely to vote yet, because they haven't had that opportunity."
3. Meet Teens On Their Own Level
The Northwest School seniors noted the greatest need was for a shift in tone among campaigns and elected officials. Norman says candidates need to make a greater effort to speak in terms anyone can understand. It's hard, she says, to perform a civic duty if you don't understand what's at stake.
"'You should have your voice heard, so go read this long and confusing voter pamphlet you’ll get in the mail once you register!’" Norman said wryly. "Make it something people can do and enjoy doing."
"If I were to see people explaining things in terms I can understand without focusing all my energy on that one thing. If they were really excited about it, not just explaining it because they'd been told to... I think that would make it more engaging to me," Norman added.
4. 'Voting Is Habit-Forming'
But the GWU handbook also notes that efforts at turning out voters often have long-term rewards.
"Voting is habit-forming," wrote The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, or CIRCLE, on its website.
Research shows if young adults are contacted by an election worker, they're not only more likely to vote; that contact "raises people's propensity to vote in subsequent elections."
Garfinkel is confident that engaging with voters can break the vicious cycle of disengagement among young voters.
"If we can engage people in new and fun ways, that's more effective than just writing people off," she said.
