Youth participation in elections has been spotty, but could this be changing?
Courtesy of Trent Somes
Trent Somes and Molly Kilbourne are shown on the campus of Washington & Jefferson College, where Somes is a sophomore and Democratic committeeman for the city’s Fourth Ward. He also is vice president of the College Democrats. Kilbourne is a Fourth Ward committeewoman and president of the College Democrats.
George Gilman, a Washington & Jefferson College student, was appointed earlier this year as a Republican committeeman in North Strabane Township.
Trent Somes, a sophomore majoring in political science and environmental studies, ran a write-in campaign among Washington & Jefferson College students and was elected to the Washington County Democratic Committee last spring.
The LPedia website, which bills itself as “a collaborative history of the Libertarian Party,” identified Somes as one of the youngest Libertarian Party leaders in the United States when, at age 17, he started Westmoreland County Libertarians in 2015 while a student at Penn-Trafford High School.
Also on the college campus majoring in political science is George Gilman, who was appointed a Republican committeeman for his North Strabane Township precinct over the summer to fill a vacancy. Gilman’s class schedule affords him Election Day, Nov. 6, off because it falls on a Tuesday, but even if he had to be present for his courses, he’d plan on spending every spare moment at the polls.
In 1971, the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18 from 21, but it may be somewhat unusual that these young men are so involved in politics.
Other age groups regularly outpace 18-to-24-year-olds in casting ballots. Thom File, in a 2014 article on the www.census.gov website, noted, “Overall, America’s youngest voters have moved toward less engagement over time. …
“In contrast to young voters, in recent presidential elections, Americans 65 years of age and older have typically had voting rates higher than all other age groups.”
In the 2012 presidential election, 69.7 percent of those age 65 and older cast ballots, while just 38 percent of those 18 to 24 years old voted.
But this month saw a surge in voter registrations among 18-to-21-year-olds at the Washington County elections office.
“National Voter Registration Day was Tuesday,” said Melanie Ostrander, Washington County assistant director of elections.
This month, the office processed about 266 online registrations from those who were born between 1997 and 2000.
“We’re finding more young voters are registering online” rather than filling out paperwork, she said after noticing about half of 50 to 60 registrations from a September online batch had South Lincoln Street, Washington, addresses with post office box numbers associated with the Washington & Jefferson College student population.
Somes, now 20, said Tuesday of the level of interest on the W&J campus in this year’s midterm election, “I would say it’s pretty high. We revamped College Dems this year, and at our first meeting we had over 40 students. We want to get a lot more students registered.
“We have done registration drives, and we always encourage students to register their friends or access absentee ballots if they want to vote in their home” communities, said Somes, who is vice president of W&J’s College Democrats.
His rationale for being involved in politics here is that “Washington, Pa., is our home for a good portion of the year.”
College Democrats plan a door-to-door “get out the vote drive” in Washington’s Fourth Precinct before the Oct. 9 registration deadline, and they’ll be inviting candidates to a casual dinner.
“The best way to always reach voters is face to face,” he said.
There are candidates running in the Fourth Precinct who are on the young side: Clark Mitchell Jr., 32, faces his second contest this year against incumbent Republican Tim O’Neal, 37, in the 48th Legislative District, which includes the Washington and Canonsburg areas, and James Craig, 29, is challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Camera Bartolotta, 54, in the 46th Senatorial District, which includes all of Greene County and Washington County, except Peters Township.
Somes said the issues most important to him on the state level are criminal justice reform, specifically “ending the drug war and ending civil asset forfeiture”; adopting a balanced state budget on time; and legalizing the recreational use of marijuana.
“I switched over when I saw Democrats in Western Pennsylvania doing great things,” the former Libertarian Somes wrote in a text message Wednesday. “Clark and others convinced me to switch, and now I’m dedicated to the Dems.”
A new leader of Washington County Democrats of all ages was elected earlier this year.
“They’re doing a great job down there,” said Washington County Democratic Chairman Ben Bright of the collegians.
Bright, 48, is considered by New Deal Democrats in his party as a “youngster.”
“Washington County’s just an older county,” Bright said.
A former Democratic stronghold, Washington County hasn’t gone for a Democratic presidential candidate since John Kerry ran against George W. Bush in 2004.
Donald Trump garnered 60 percent of the vote in the county to Hillary Clinton’s 35.5 percent in the 2016 presidential election. Republican Rick Saccone received 53 percent in a March special congressional election compared with Conor Lamb’s 46 percent, and in the 48th District special election in March, O’Neal bested Mitchell 54 percent to 43 percent.
Bright, however, remains optimistic about his party’s chances in this year’s midterm election.
“I think it’s right down the middle,” Bright said Tuesday. “I think people want to see change happen. Politics is there for the people, not corporations.
“We’ll see what the next two years brings.”
Gilman said the level of interest is high among his political science classmates, but political discussions among students are geared more to national politics than local elections.
“Most people my age wouldn’t know who their state representative is, outside of the students who are studying political science,” he said.
He and his friends and friends of friends are seeing that absentee ballots get to those who need them, including a classmate who’s in France.
“We’re trying to get as many people to register as possible,” said Gilman, who transferred to W&J from Washington College in Chesterton, Md. He considers himself a senior who will have enough credits to graduate by the end of summer 2019.
His message to motivate people his age to cast a ballot?
“The effects of voting are tangible,” he said. “You have to convey the message this is based in reality. Decide who you want, and if you don’t, you can’t complain when people do things you don’t like.
“It’s probably one of the most important duties you have as a citizen.”
At Waynesburg University, students have showed a keen interest in the national discussion surrounding the midterm elections, but not so much the local races, said Larry Stratton, an associate professor of ethics and constitutional law and the director of the Stover Center for Constitutional Studies and Moral Leadership.
“As we know, the Trump administration arouses passions for and against (the president),” Stratton said Wednesday while traveling to Washington, D.C., for the Building Bridges Conference sponsored by the American Swiss Foundation. “I think that given the level of passion, it has increased interest in the election.”
A “Midterm Madness” forum held Friday afternoon at the university was designed to get students to examine polling probability and discuss “hot button” issues in each race.
“I know there will be a lot of people there, and people will be really passionate about it. In Waynesburg, there is a vibrant group of Republicans and Democrats.It will be a fun conversation,” he said before the forum.
Regional editor Mike Jones contributed to this report.