Voting Preregistration for 16- and 17-Year-Olds

The nation’s youngest voters consistently turn out at lower rates than older voters.

Research suggests this is because younger voters move more often and so have weaker ties to their communities. In multiple listening sessions, young Americans offered another explanation: they often don’t turn out because they don’t want to “vote wrong” or “make a mistake.”

Making voting a habit in young adulthood can have a long-term impact on the likelihood that someone will be a regular voter.

To encourage young voters to turn out more often and in greater numbers, state legislators should pass legislation that allows the preregistration of sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds. Anyone who preregisters should be automatically placed on the rolls when they turn eighteen.

Schools should make preregistration an essential component of their regular civic education, social studies, or history curriculum. Schools should also give students a chance to practice voting and should coordinate with local election officials to provide students with sample ballots and exposure to voting machines.

Source: National Conference of State Legislatures

Generation Citizen/Vote16USA  and RepresentWomen and Faithful Democracy are committed to working to implement this recommendation in order to help reinvent American democracy for the 21st century.