By: Grace Graves
The millennial generation has surpassed the baby boomers as the largest generation. While this has many implications, currently it has a huge effect on how the current public office candidates aim to catch voters.
“Millennials,” an age group that is usually defined as the American citizens between ages 18-35, are changing the game this election. These voters don’t seem to care about the politics going on around them.
18-20 year olds have only held the right to vote for 45 years, since the 26th amendment was passed. While they may have the right, this data, provided by the United States Census Bureau, shows that less than half are exercising that right. 18-29 year olds are the least participatory in American elections.
Considering that the millennial generation are also the largest generation, that decision has major implications for the direction of America.
Bernie Sanders had a lot of support from these young voters. With him out of the race, many are turning to other unconventional candidates such as Gary Johnson or Jill Stein. Hillary Clinton is trying to capitalize on his voters and has Sanders’ endorsement.
Even so, Clinton still struggles with this demographic. Donald Trump also needs to find a way to sway the millennial vote his direction.
While the first step toward capturing the millennial vote would be registering voters, making sure they get to the polls afterward is just as important. Beyond that, how the presidential, state, and even local candidates plan to secure these crucial votes can change the course of this year’s election.
