The Voter Registration Gap in Pennsylvania Is Enormous
Think of it like age-based gerrymandering. By working together to empower teens, we can close the gap and fix this kind of voter suppression, right now.
Pennsylvania has one of the country’s most important state-wide elections coming up, and the last day to vote is November 4.
As of September 22, only 25% of 18-year-olds in PA are registered to vote compared to 74% of voters ages 45 and above.
Three justices on the state Supreme Court are facing a retention election that could influence the outcome of decisions affecting Pennsylvanians for years to come.
An equally important deadline falls less than three weeks from today. The deadline to register to vote in PA is October 20.
Unlike many states, PA does not offer same-day registration. October 20 is a firm cutoff, and one group it’s on track to cut off the hardest is 18-year olds.
What does that mean for the youngest voters? If the deadline were just one week ago (the time of our most recent data), it would mean that nearly 120,000 of the state’s roughly 160,000 18-year-olds would not be able to vote.
See for yourself on our Scorecard showing statewide info and info for the five most populous counties in the state.
But here’s the thing. Unlike so many democracy problems, voter registration is one we can fix. And when I say we, I mean that if you are reading this, you can help.
The key steps are to connect with people who can make a difference:
You can share this post along with a link to register to vote.
Or better yet, recruit a student or educator to attend a free workshop where they can learn how to run a drive in their school. Upcoming sessions are tonight, October 6, 8, and 14. In just one hour, they can learn how to transform the culture of their school and get everyone who is old enough registered before election day. The teaching lasts, so they can do it again in the spring, when even more of their classmates will be 18.
Here’s how it looks. The point is that young people have power, and we all have power to connect with young people and help them understand the ways they can shape our democracy.
Here’s what The Civics Center is doing to improve the rate of voter registration among 18-year-olds in Pittsburgh
For the third time in two years, The Civics Center is co-leading The Allegheny Youth Vote Coalition ¹ Huddle on Wednesday, October 1. Student leaders from 12 high schools across Allegheny County, PA will be engaging their peers in hands-on civic programming including hearing from PA SCOTUS judicial candidates. They will then be encouraging their classmates to run non-partisan voter registration drives in their school communities!
1. Allegheny Youth Vote Coalition: Black Political Empowerment Project, Boys and Girls Club of Western PA, Committee of Seventy, League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh, National Council of Jewish Women Pittsburgh, New PA Project, New Voices for Reproductive Justice, PA Youth Vote, The Civics Center, The Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, Voter Empowerment Education & Empowerment Movement, and the Women and Girls Foundation. Generously funded by The Heinz Endowments.