Could you create a mathematical formula to increase voter turnout?
The idea may sound far-fetched. But AGÕæÈË°Ù¼ÒÀÖ County clerk Dana DeBeauvoir has an idea on what it might look like.
“It has to do with how well each voter is connected to their local community,� DeBeauvoir tells KUT News. “For example: Do you own a house? That’s a point. Do you have children in school? That’s a point. All of those add up. And it turns out that people that have the most points of connection with their community are the people who vote.�
DeBeauvoir notes those variables are “roughly all about how old you are. It takes a while to get connected.� And those factors may have a lot to do with why young Texans are sitting out elections.
The 2008 Presidential election � and then-candidate Barack Obama was � was thought to swell the youth vote. And young voters showed up in significant numbers, particularly among African-American females. But the , which studies civic engagement among the young, writes that out of the 41 million 18 to 29 year-olds eligible voters in 2008, (51.1 percent) voted.
Predicting a dearth of young voters this election compared to 2008, political journal offers a suggestion that’s similar to DeBeauvoir’s: “the most likely answer is that young adults do not vote because many are still � in a sense � children, without adult commitments or responsibilities:�
The data suggest that three factors consistently make a difference in voting rates: money, marriage, and homeownership. Those are the adult commitments that give people a stake in society; to protect and expand their stake, they vote.
The New Republic goes on to argue that the Great Recession has taken a big bite out of all three metrics: a loss of economic security has lead in turn to declining marriage and homeownership rates among young citizens.
Aside from economic factors, maybe a process of maturation is required.
Elizabeth is a 22-year-old mother of three. She didn’t share her last name with KUT News, because of her personal relationship to an issue that driving her to the polls this November: immigration, as her husband is an undocumented immigrant.
“I’m a Hispanic American,� Elizabeth says. “I do have my papers here, but I’m married to a guy who doesn’t, so it concerns me a lot. That’s one of my interests for why I’m voting � because of the fact of immigrants. That’s one of my prime reasons for voting.�
“I’ve been registered to vote since 18, and honestly, I haven’t voted,� Elizabeth adds. “I wasn’t really interested at that time. Now that I’m older, 22, I’m more into it than I was younger.�
KUT News, and the are raising awareness in Central Texas about low rates of civic participation and the impact on democracy. Join us tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012, for �,� a conversation with young Texans � those who are engaged and those who aren't � about the causes of low civic participation and how to boost it. You can .
Why are young Texans increasingly tuning out of the political process? Leave a comment below, or join the conversation on Twitter using hashtag #.
