New Voters: Here's Everything You Need To Know

This year, more than four million teens will be able to vote for the first time. Yet for many, the whole process is a mystery. How and where can they register? How will they understand what they’re voting on? Where are they going to cast their ballot? These are some of the questions tbh producer Charlotte King answers in this story.

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Story Transcript

CAROLINA FOX: I’m actually so sad about it, like going to college.

I’m at my friend Carolina Fox’s house, on San Francisco’s iconic Twin Peaks. We walk from her kitchen down the stairs to her room on the bottom floor. The late afternoon fog is starting to roll in. We sit on one of two couches in the left corner of her room. I haven’t seen her since we graduated a month ago. We’re looking into how she can register to vote when she moves away to college.

CHARLOTTE TO CAROLINA: You said you don't know how to register to vote yet right? Do you want to look up to see like how to register to vote in Louisiana?

Sounds of typing

CAROLINA FOX: How… to… vote… in Louisiana… OK. The first thing that comes up to vote in Louisiana... Okay, the first thing that comes up is online voter registration register to vote … should we click…?

This November, my friends and I will be able to vote in our first presidential election. Like many of my peers, I’m excited. Many of us are making plans to make the most of this privilege.

For a lot of us though, it’s the process of voting that’s daunting.

Most of my friends are planning to go to college. Some of them are moving out of state. We’re all going to be busy registering for classes, moving out, and moving in, making new friends and starting new lives.

Voting is an administrative task that we have to ensure we make time for. Especially when there are forces working to discourage us from participating in the process.

The difference between prioritizing guns or children’s lives could boil down to whether just a few more of my peers registered in time to cast a ballot.

Ever since I was in middle school, I figured that even if you don’t believe in the way the political system is set up in America, voting is a chance to push democracy in the direction you want it to go.

Opting out of voting doesn’t opt you out of the political system. The policies, laws, and politicians will still affect your life. This is true for choices you make in your life.

If your cafeteria is serving either hot dogs or hamburgers and you decide not to pick which one you want, you will still get either a hot dog or a hamburger. You still have to eat the lunch. Your vote is your decision on who you want to represent you, on every level. So why would you let anyone else decide your future?

That’s why figuring out the voting process this November was high up on my “TO DO LIST” when I was preparing to go to college.

Sounds of Vermont nature

I’ll be moving from the urban city of San Francisco to the Green Mountain State to attend the University of Vermont.

Sounds of phone dialing

This summer, I started preparing by calling the University. They directed me to their voting resources web page. That’s where I found where I could register with something called TurboVote, as well as information about where the closest polling place is to campus. The resource page also included a list of organizations and guides to learn about ballot topics.

Sounds of typing

I skimmed the state government’s websites and Vermont News, and decided that I still wanted to vote in California. I realized the issues felt more urgent to me in my home state.

For example, I care about access to education, the environment, reproductive rights, affordable housing and school safety.

I’m choosing to vote in California so I can push for the change I want to see in my hometown.

When I was only 10 I became harshly aware of how wildfires were destroying California. Each time ash would float through my window, it would send me into an emotional spiral.

I felt completely helpless and incapable of saving the places I know and love.

I might have been daunted by the process of voting. But I knew it was a chance to feel a little less helpless.

Luckily for me, California makes voting as convenient as possible.

I barely had to even think about registering to vote. The state registered me on the voter rolls when I got my drivers license. When the election rolled around in March, my ballot arrived in the mail.

CBS news clip: For decades, America’s youngest voters, those under the age of 30, were the least likely to show up at the polls.

CBS news clip: CBS polling shows that young people, who are registered to vote, are much less likely to head to the polls in November than older people.

Young people vote at notoriously low rates.

The majority of youth say they have the power to change the country, but fewer say they feel well-qualified to participate in politics. And just a quarter of them cast a ballot. That’s according to a 2022 survey by Tuft University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, which is also known as CIRCLE.

College educated students are much more likely to vote. A staggering 83% of them were registered in 2020, but only 66% of them actually voted. That’s according to the national study of learning, voting and engagement, otherwise known as NSOLVE.

When young people understand how important they are to the political system, they’re more likely to vote, researchers have found.

My peers and I feel we can’t identify non-partisan, accurate resources, or are overwhelmed by the voter registration process. It can feel like a hassle to remember each of your logins to news sites. Many of us don’t even have subscriptions to local journalism.

On election day in March, I made my choices based on information from the ballot pamphlet, answers from research, and friends’ advice.

I felt underprepared. I didn’t want to just vote for what my parents were voting for – even though I agree with many of their beliefs.

I didn't want to feel like I was blindly following them.

Many of my peers from Lick-Wilmerding, the high school where I went, also struggled with educating themselves on the ballot.

I spoke to my friend Mason. He’s moving to Illinois to attend Northwestern.

Both Carolina and Mason were eligible to vote in the San Francisco local elections in March of 2024. It had been a date they were looking forward to.

CAROLINA FOX: I knew since I was like 10 that I could vote in this presidential election

MASON SALMA: I pre-registered multiple times. When I got my driver's license, at a fair, I think I've pre-registered a third time, so I wasn't sure, but it all worked out and I got my ballot.

Mason and Carolina both think of voting as a privilege and an opportunity for engagement.

MASON SALMA: I've followed politics and you know well prior to turning 18 years old, and so when I did turn 18, it was kind of like my opportunity to say, this is what I think, and this is what I want to see happen, and voting is the best way to do that, at least at my age.

Youth voting rates are rising: Half of 18 to 29 year-olds voted in 2020, up from 40 percent in 2016, according to CIRCLE.

And we’re becoming even more influential: “By 2024, Gen Z-ers and Millennials will become the biggest voting block in the country. That’s according to Civic Influencers, an organization that supports youth civic engagement.

We have an incredible amount of sway over elections. So what do young people care about?

Inflation and gas prices, abortion and reproductive health care, the job market, climate change, and gun violence prevention. These are the top issues on young people’s minds CIRCLE says.

These are all big, heavy topics. It’s even more complicated in California, where we have to decide on so many of these issues.

There were 17 statewide initiatives in 2016. The voter guide for them was 224 pages long. I know I am not alone in not wanting to read a 224-page document to prepare for voting.

It turns out there’s lots of organizations who are here to help young people eligible to vote

Maxim Thorne is the CEO of Civic Influencers. It focuses on mobilizing young people, especially young people of color.

MAXIM THORNE: Voting should not be scary. It should be easy. It should be as easy as possible. And what we hear is people are confused. They feel they don't know enough. They feel it’s intimidating... We're going to make it simple... because other people are trying to make it really unsurmountable...you are not going to give up that inheritance of our democracy.

If you reach out to them, they can help you make a plan. They will remind you when the deadline to register to vote is, help you find your polling site, and how you will get there, and if you need it, help find you transportation.

The League of Women Voters also does similar work. Founded in 1920, it has chapters all across the US, powered by volunteers. They set up informational stands for voter registration, visit schools to educate young people on how to vote, and provide many resources and voting guides on their website.

Sounds of a computer mouse clicking

There’s a lot of support for how to register to vote as a college student. But the choice of which state you vote in, is a personal one. Carolina already has decided.

CAROLINA FOX: All of the restrictions in Louisiana are going to be what impacts me now, because I won't be living as a Californian anymore. I won't have the privileges that Californians do have.

My friend Mason is still evaluating his options.

MASON SALMA: I'm still trying to decide whether or not I want to register as a voter in the state of Illinois, versus maintaining like permanent residents here in California.

Fortunately, whether Carolina and Mason vote in Louisiana, Illinois, or California, voter registration and voting itself are actually pretty manageable. In all three states you can register online, through the mail, or in person. They also all have relatively less strict voter id restrictions.

Not every state makes voting so easy.

KXAN news clip: Voter sites on college campuses could be banned under a proposed Texas bill. Some call it an act of voter suppression. Others believe it’s a matter of school safety.

Civic Influencers’ Thorne has coined a term for what states like Texas are doing.

MAXIM THORNE: Generational gerrymandering. I think it's my attempt to capture the crisis that young people are facing when it comes to voting and registering to vote in our country today, it is a system of tactics, laws, and practices, to stop young people from voting.

In Ohio for example, a 2023 law invalidated student IDs as a form of voter registration. This disenfranchises many eligible college students, who may not have a driver’s license, or a passport, for example.

Things become even more complicated when young people move out of state for college.

ADAM GISMONDI: The time between a student stepping foot on campus and then the election is really quick, and in some states, they have early deadlines for registration.

That was Adam Gismondi, the director of NSLVE. He also encouraged colleges to get advice from students on which voter resources were most helpful.

Many young people question whether their vote matters.

Many have lost trust in the system In an era of political chaos and division.

But voting doesn’t mean just casting your ballot for who will become president. There’s layers upon layers of things you get to voice your opinion on.

MICHAEL REDMOND: Everything you do is political. If you're using a public park for your club, or your sports team, that's political

That was Michael Redmond, a self-described activist, organizer, campaign staffer, and a recent graduate climate and environmental scientist. He’s also a San Francisco native.

MICHAEL REDMOND: It just takes one issue to activate a whole group of people and make them realize that no, these are, you know, things that are impacted heavily by public policy

Local elections can decide how that public park is maintained. That’s something you care about, something your friends care about.

Especially when elections are so close, the difference of votes between one outcome or another could be as big as that sports team you play with.

The fight to have a civic and political voice is ongoing, and it’s not over. (((Forty years after Freedom Summer in Mississippi, the fight over voting rights has expanded to a number of states.)))

In 2023, 11 states introduced more restrictive voting laws. Many of these laws introduced stricter voter identification rules, limit the work of voter registration organizations, and ban ballot drop boxes. 

The fight has even expanded to encompass new demographics, such as to us young voters.

So we have to be vigilant.

Whoever ends up in power will determine the fairness and freedom of the systems that make up American life.

That’s why my friends and I are putting so much thought into where we vote.

Back in San Francisco, Carolina and I are starting her packing.

CAROLINA FOX: This is the first box as you can see, it’s completely empty. I haven’t started my packing that’s due in days. But that’s okay.

CAROLINA FOX: True Religions…Oh yea. My heaviest pair of pants…

If you’re moving out of state for college this fall, like Carolina, and especially if you’re moving to a swing state, you should look into voting as soon as you get to campus.

Find out the deadlines for registering, how you can register, where to get your ballot, and where to cast it.

Most colleges have a voter resources page, which is a great place to start.

You can also look at the Secretary of State’s website or the League of Women Voters for your state to find out about the voting process.

If you’re debating whether to vote in your home state or at college, Civic Influencers provides a very helpful heat map featuring which states are swing states for various races. Voting in swing states, meaning Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina or Georgia, is even more important in this election.

Educate yourself to understand how your vote can create the biggest impact.

Resources mentioned in story:
Civic Influencers Student Voting Heat Map
Video explainers and guides
Civic Influencers' State-by-State guides for doing voter registration drives
Vote.org: Register and pre-register to vote, see what's on your ballot, get reminders, etc
League of Women Voters enables you to do the same, but you can also volunteer and participate in Youth Councils (https://www.vote411.org/),
National Archives' history of the significance of "Freedom Summer"