CSUN On Point

November’s midterm elections are fast approaching, and young voters are being urged to make their voices heard. Voter registration is at an all-time high, and 19 million people are registered to vote, but young voter turnout rates are still low.

The Pew Research Center has reported that less than a quarter of eligible millennials voted during the last midterm election. Older voting populations had ten-percent higher turnout rates.

As the baby boomer population decreases, the results for the upcoming election on November 6th will depend primarily upon young voters.

CSUN Political Science Professor Tyler Hughes said encouraging younger generations to vote should start at their homes and on campus.

“If you talk more politics at home, you’re more likely to be active,” he said. “We should at least be giving students the tools to participate, instead of just telling them to participate.”

CSUN Associated Students Chair of Community and Government Relations Tracy Johnson said a combination of institutional and psychological barriers may be discouraging young people to vote.

“The psychological barriers are efficacy;” he said, “believing that this matters, and that it’s going to make a difference; the voter’s education; the knowledge; the trust in government;  these things are barriers that can discourage young voters.”

Young people have been more likely to engage in activism in 2016, but the main concern is whether or not that activism will make it to the polls.

Hughes said the older someone gets, the more likely they are to vote.

Johnson said he dislikes blaming older generations for societal barriers.

“We need to all come together,” he said. “Three or four generations together will change things. One generation isn’t going to do it, in my opinion.”

The last day to register to vote in California is October 22nd, but anyone who misses that deadline can still register to vote conditionally.

Moderator: Ahmad Akkaoui

Executive Producer: Mario Saucedo

Associate Producer: Natalia Vivino

Anchor: Sandy Chavez

Social Media Editor: Tammera Magana

Reporters: Ahmad Akkaoui, Sandy Chavez, Manuel Fuentes, Tammera Magana, Mario Saucedo & Natalia Vivino