Hopeful Young Voters Enter the Cruel World of Politics

Amanda Connelly has voted in one election in her life. After years of general disinterest towards the world of politics, the 21-year-old Milwaukee School of Engineering student arrived at the polls for the 2020 presidential election with the goal of removing Donald Trump from office.

“I felt like I needed to do my part,” said Connelly. “Most of my friends weren’t really plugged into politics either, but we felt like it was really important that we go vote in that election.”

Connelly said the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the major events that followed, including the Black Lives Matter protests and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, brought her revelations about the world outside the bubble she had sealed herself in.

“Since the start of the pandemic, it was all really eye opening for me,” said Connelly. “I feel like I’ve been privileged enough to turn a blind eye to politics for most of my life. All the stuff that happened in and since 2020 just made me realize how much is going on out there and what other people are fighting for.”

Two years later, as many of the same concerns linger and new ones sprout, fresh voters and young activists are fully grasping the reality that politics is war. Every election is just another battle.

“I do feel a sort of responsibility to vote in the midterms,” said Connelly. “Some things have gotten better, but I know that the presidential elections aren’t all that matter.”

Many young voters are learning that the hard way. A study by the Pew Research Center showed that around 60% of 18- to 29-year-old voters cast a ballot for Joe Biden, but a 2022 survey from The New York Times and Siena College found that just 1% of that demographic strongly approves of the way Biden is doing his job.

“I don’t think some people realized, when Biden was elected over Trump, it doesn’t suddenly fix problems,” said 20-year-old Deja McKinney, a fashion student at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.

There are approximately 8.3 million newly eligible voters for the upcoming 2022 midterm elections, according to a study by CIRCLE.

However, just 4.5% of 18-year-olds in Milwaukee County are registered to vote, according to a research report by The Civics Center, an organization dedicated to improving youth voter registration and civic engagement.

Abortion, inflation, climate change and affordable healthcare are some of the top issues 18- to 29-year-olds care about, according to a poll by Lake Research and Emerson College Polling.

The overturning of Roe v. Wade is a decision that solidifies feelings of hopelessness and anger in many young voters. A Pew Research Center study found that 69% of young people disapprove of the ruling to abolish legal abortion, and 62% of Americans think abortion should be legal in most or all cases.

Abortion is the top issue that Democrats reported feeling most concerned about. In the latest poll from Marquette Law School, 56% of Wisconsinites and 81% of Democrats reported feeling “very concerned” about the abortion policy. Seven percent of Democrats are in favor of the abortion ruling as opposed to 61% of Republicans.

“That decision just made me feel like, what are we doing?” said 19-year-old Kendall Richards, a sales manager in Milwaukee. “What’s the point of a democracy and voting if they’ll make decisions we don’t want anyway?”

Feelings of disillusion and frustration with a lack of progress plague young voters. The Spring 2022 Harvard Youth Poll found that there’s a stark increase in 18- to 29-year-olds believing that “political involvement rarely has tangible results” (36%,), their vote “doesn’t make a difference” (42%) and consensus that “politics today are no longer able to meet the challenges our country is facing” (56%).

“People can vote for Democrats, but it clearly won’t always reflect what we want,” said Richards.

The Roe v. Wade decision sent ripples through the young voter demographic, simultaneously stirring and diminishing political engagement. Polling by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) found that 40% of youth say the decision makes them more likely to vote, but 21% of the same demographic say the decision makes them less likely to vote, 13% higher than the next closest demographic (30- to 44-year-olds, 8%).

Kate Nelson, a 19-year-old anthropology student at UWM, went to Wauwatosa City Hall shortly after she turned 18 earlier this year because she was so eager to register.

“I think it’s important to vote, it’s what you’re supposed to do,” said Nelson. “I especially wanted to make sure I could vote in local elections. Choosing a candidate because of their morals is still important to me even if they don’t end up winning.”

“I understand feeling like your single vote doesn’t mean anything,” said McKinney. “If everyone felt like that and acted on it, though, then really nothing would get done. We feel bad now, but it’s not worth giving up.”

According to the Spring 2022 Harvard Youth Poll, 38% of 18- to 29-year-olds identify as Democrats compared to 25% identifying as Republicans. Since Harvard’s polling in Spring 2018, young Democrats are now 5% less likely to vote at this stage while young Republicans are 7% more likely to vote.

“After all the stuff Trump said and did as president, it kind of just made it so I won’t even really look at who is running [for the Republicans],” said Alex Hazelwood, a 21-year-old nursing student at Milwaukee Area Technical College. “At this point I feel like Democrats fit much more with what I’d like to see.”

Young people have the potential to heavily swing Democratic results one way or another, and the party knows it. Governor Tony Evers recently visited multiple UW campuses for his midterm campaign.

“Governor Evers met with students across Wisconsin this week because the stakes are high in this upcoming election, from abortion access to voting rights to public education,” said Kayla Anderson, a representative for Evers.

Anderson reiterated that opposing Republican candidate Tim Michels wants to ban abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest.

“Voting has never been more important, and Governor Evers is going to continue to encourage young people to cast their ballot and have their voices heard in November.”