Pennsylvania is better than average at voting.
This isn’t about party. It’s not about encouraging voting in a presidential or midterm year. Registration is always at its peak every four years when the country is going to the polls to decide who holds the White House. It picks up again for the midterms two years later, but not quite as much.
Pennsylvania voters show up heavily in those years. Since 2002, state voter turnout has been higher than the national turnout every year but 2014, when it lagged by just 0.2%. In 2024, 71.4% of registered Pennsylvanians voted compared to just 63.9% nationally.
That’s a good thing because Pennsylvania is a perennial swing state. The fate of the White House frequently turns on Keystone State voter turnout.
About 9 million Pennsylvanians are registered to vote — 3.8 million Democrats to 3.6 million Republicans, with another 1.2 million unaffiliated and 315,000 other parties. That’s a good percentage of the 13.1 million residents. It’s about 68% of the overall population and about 76% of those old enough to vote, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
But it could be much higher if those turning old enough to vote actually registered.
A recent study by nonprofit The Civics Center found that only 22% of Pennsylvania 18-year-olds registered to vote. That’s a dramatic difference from other states such as Oregon, where the number is 86%. In fact, it’s the lowest registration rate for new voters in the country, according to nonprofit newsroom Votebeat.
The 18 to 24 demographic makes up just 8% of Pennsylvania voters.
The study blamed the way the state allows registration. While others let students preregister at 16 years old (15 in Colorado), Pennsylvania allows registration only when an 18th birthday occurs before the next election, whether primary or general. In addition to cutting down the amount of time open to register, it makes the process more convoluted than necessary.
Add in the comparatively late May primary and that Pennsylvania’s primary moves around in a presidential year, and it’s enough to make someone just walk away from the whole idea.
But wait. What about automatic voter registration? The Motor Voter Law allows eligible Pennsylvanians to quickly and conveniently register to vote when they get a driver’s license.
The problem? It works only if the new driver is 18, or in that window where they will turn 18 before the next election. Otherwise, it doesn’t become an option again until getting a new license.
That should change.
There have been bills introduced allowing for preregistration. Like with so many good ideas in Harrisburg, that’s about all that happens.
State leaders should not just make it easier for newly minted 18-year-olds to vote. They should actively encourage it. They should break down the barriers with one hand and throw them a rope with the other.
Voting should be a lifelong habit that starts with the first opportunity and builds to make sure that decisions are being made by every slice of the electorate.
But whether in Washington or in Harrisburg, the people selected in these elections make important decisions that impact lives. If 18-year-olds aren’t participating, they aren’t having a say in what sends them to war, what sends them to jail, what impacts their jobs or housing or health, and how much it all costs them.
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