With the midterms just eight days away, more and more polls and early voting indicate that there may be record turnout for this non-presidential election year.
And it’s not just among traditional voting groups either. According to a new survey from the Institute of Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, voters under 30 are more likely to vote this year than during the last midterms, in 2014 and 2010.
The survey found that 40% of those under 30 say they will “definitely” vote this year—54% among Democrats, 43% of Republicans, and 24% of independents. This number marks an uptick from the institute’s spring poll, which found that 37% of this age group would “definitely” vote, and a significant increase from the surveys conducted before the 2014 and 2010 elections, which found just 23% and 31% feeling similarly, respectively.
While John Della Volpe, director for polling at the institute, noted that actual turnout is typically slightly lower than what the poll indicates by the “high single digits,” voter turnout among young people is on track to surge past that of recent midterm elections.
Nevertheless, the primary driver behind such high engagement is the “trauma” this age group has faced while coming of age. “The good news is they’re more mobilized than they’ve been in many years. The bad news is that they’re mobilized because of the trauma they’ve endured,” Della Volpe explained to The Washington Post, referring to events such as the financial crisis and mass shootings.
