New Data Shows Youth Vote Turnout Nearly Doubled in Key Precincts of PA and VA Races

Extensive outreach played a vital role in more than doubling the youth voter turnout last Tuesday

Washington, D.C. — Last week, historic youth voter turnout in critical Pennsylvania and Virginia races showcased the impact of NextGen’s dedicated organizing and education efforts. NextGen’s election data reveals a remarkable doubling of youth voter participation in key college campus precincts compared to the 2021 elections, highlighting the influential role of extensive outreach. These results underscore the strength of the youth vote and emphasize the significance of engaging this decisive bloc.

In a pivotal moment for Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court, young voters mobilized to safeguard voting rights, abortion rights, and climate justice. NextGen America’s 2023 organizing efforts on campuses across the state, including University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Carnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh, Slippery Rock University, Penn State, Drexel University, and Villanova, resulted in turnout rates that frequently doubled 2021 numbers.

In Virginia, thousands of young voters turned out to protect abortion access, fight for climate justice, and build a more equitable education system. On campuses that NextGen America organized on, young voters registered historic turnout, exceeding 2019 turnout levels at William and Mary, Richard Bland College, and Virginia Tech. On Virginia Tech’s campus, youth vote turnout also exceeded 2022 levels.

“NextGen America celebrates the remarkable surge in youth voter turnout during this election cycle,” NextGen America President Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez said. “The data unequivocally demonstrates that young voters passionately turned out to defend fundamental rights. In Virginia and Pennsylvania, young voters exceeded expectations and defied polling, demonstrating the formidable impact of our organizing. We are just at the beginning of what we can accomplish when we use our collective power for change.”

Leading up to 2024, NextGen aims to contact millions of young voters to build on the momentum of young people eager to participate in our democracy and build a government that works for all of us.

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About NextGen America

NextGen America is the leading national organization for engaging young people through voter education, registration and mobilization. We invite 18-to-35 year olds — the largest and most diverse generation in American history — into our democracy to ensure our government works for them and to find new solutions to the dire challenges facing our society and the world. Since 2013, NextGen America has registered more than 1.3 million young voters and contacted 9.6 million young eligible voters during the historic 2022 midterm elections.