As we approach the 2020 presidential election in the United States, many voters will have already made up their minds about whom to vote for.1
But while large parts of the country — and the world as a whole — intensely follow new developments about whom undecided voters will cast their vote for on Tuesday, it is easy to forget that many Americans avoid the polarizing choice of whom to vote for by choosing not to vote at all.
One large slice of the population that often does not exercise its right to vote is young Americans. Less than half — just 43.4% — of eligible Americans under 30 voted in the 2016 presidential election.2 This was much less than the 71.4% of over-60s who voted.
This pattern is not unique to today’s generation of young Americans. Rather, voter turnout among Americans aged 18 to 29 has increased over time, from 36% in the 1988 presidential election to 43% in 2016.
But, the large gap in turnout between young and old Americans has persisted over time because the turnout rate among older Americans has also increased since 1988. In the 1988 election, there was a 29 percentage point gap between the over-60s and under-30s. In 2016, this gap was almost the same — 28 percentage points.
In 2016, approximately 40% of eligible voters in the US did not vote.3 This dwarfed the number of votes cast for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, who each received the support of less than 30% of eligible voters.4
