The early data on youth participation in the 2022 midterm elections has given student voting activists cause to rejoice. About 27% of people ages 18-29 cast a ballot, according to an initial estimate by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University. It’s the second-highest youth participation rate in a midterm over the past 30 years, just slightly behind the turnout in 2018. 
Clarissa Unger, co-founder and executive director of SLSV
“We're really maintaining that level of high youth turnout, which is incredible to see,” said Clarissa Unger, co-founder and executive director of the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition (SLSV). “2018 wasn't an anomaly. This is the path we're headed on going forward.”
Youth participation in elections has jumped in recent years after languishing for decades. From a low of just under 20% in the 2014 midterms, the youth voting rate rose to 28% in 2018. Rates for presidential elections have been even higher: 39% in 2016 and 50% in 2020.
According to Abby Kiesa, deputy director of CIRCLE, a major factor in the increase has been the work of organizations that arose after 2014 to try to improve campus voting rates.
“It has been absolutely remarkable how much [these] folks have been able to get huge institutions to change so they make sure that no student goes through campus without being registered to vote,” she said.
According to the Student Vote Research Network’s (SVRN) State of the Student Vote: Fall 2022 Report, the number of schools that submitted a plan for achieving full student political participation increased slightly over 2020, a notable accomplishment in a midterm year when national elections typically get less attention. These schools served roughly 300,000 more students than the 2020 cohort, and the quality and depth of their plans were also improved.
Unger also credited new tactics with the high youth rates.
