Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Keeping the Youth Vote Alive in a Time of Uncertainty

 The Asheville Citizen Times has been kind enough to give me some space to write about the 2020 election about once a month. This month's column is about the youth vote in 2020 (specifically the difficulties of reaching college students in a pandemic). I thought it might be of interest to readers of this blog. Please  click through to read the whole piece and, if you're not already a subscriber, please consider a subscription to the Citizen Times.

By Chris Cooper

Every four years, gallons of ink are spilled over the youth vote and its importance for the outcome of the election and the future of our democracy.

This attention is well-deserved. Historically, the size of the youth vote pales in comparison to the size of the electorate among older demographics, but youth turnout has inched up in recent years.  According to data from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University in 2018, 28% of young people voted in 2018, the highest midterm turnout in some time.

Please click through to read the rest https://www.citizen-times.com/story/opinion/2020/09/07/keeping-youth-vote-alive-nc-time-uncertainty-opinion/5709106002/ 

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Chris Cooper is Madison Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Public Affairs at Western Carolina University. He tweets at @chriscooperwcu