Young people are far more likely to face wait times to vote than their older counterparts are, and may find themselves largely locked out of Primary voting because of laws limiting participation to a party system that turns millennials off, a new study finds.
New York University School of Law's Brennan Center for Justice teamed up Craig Newmark of craigconnects and Craigslist to survey 1,006 people over the age of 18, and found that millennials face numerous obstacles to voting.
CLICK HERE for craigconnects blog.
Why? Lots of reasons.
"Millennials are more likely to bear the brunt of the lack of planning because they're more likely to live in the communities that are underserved in election resources," the Brennan Center's Wendy Weiser said in an interview. What's more, four times as many African-Americans and six times as many Latinos report waiting in line for 30 or more minutes than whites who said the same, the new study found.
Overall, when it comes to waits and obstacles, "It's not just minority communities," said Weiser, Head of Brennan's Democracy Program. "It's also college communities."
Younger people with less control over their work or study schedules may also be more inclined to register or vote at peak hours, while other groups, such as retirees and people with higher levels of professional autonomy, have more leeway in showing up when lines are shorter.
Not in the mood to party: "One thing that's a big deal this year is how millennials are being shut out of the primaries," Craig Newmark, Founder of Craigslist and craigconnects, said. "Half register as independents or unaffiliated and that means in almost a dozen states — and big ones like Florida, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania — they can't vote in the primaries," he said. "They have no say in who the candidates end up being." "That's not fair."
Fixing it: Newmark and the Brennan Center's scholars suggest what they call some common-sense reforms that would make voting easier and faster for a larger number of people, including millennials. "It is not too late to put in place, right now, plans so we don't experience these long lines or dramatic disparities," Weiser said.
These include:
- Automatic Voter Registration.
- Online Registration.
- Early voting.
- Pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds.
CLICK HERE for more information about the Brennan's Democracy Program.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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