In the United States, voting has been a significant aspect of its democracy since gaining independence in the late 18^th century. For centuries, eligible American citizens of all voting ages have participated in voting to elect their leaders. However, statistics have shown that there is a need for more young adult voters. According to various surveys, young people fail to turn up to vote compared to older adults. Recent elections have shown that young people do not vote. This does not mean young adult voters do not care about politics or are not interested in participating in the election process. Rather, they are very much interested in politics, only that various factors hinder them from voting. Ultimately, this paper seeks to highlight institutional hurdles and poverty as the two worst reasons why there is a shortage of young adult voters and try to relate Tocqueville’s perspectives using his essay “Democracy in America.”

The first factor why there is a shortage of young adult voters is institutional hurdles hindering young adult voters from voting. Notably, young adults aspire to take part in the constitutional process of voting. However, when it comes to actual voting, they are hindered by various barriers within the institutional body of voting. Unlike older voters, young adults are more likely to be derailed by various obstacles standing in their way to voting. It is estimated that young adults are twice as likely to encounter institutional barriers to voting compared to adult voters. According to Erin Tor, “young people care about politics and intend to vote, but too often fail to follow through on those intentions because of personal and institutional distractions and barriers.”[1] It is also important to note that young adults are quite busy with their studies; they have inconsistent school and job arrangements and often attend school in distant regions. These account for the many demands and destructions that end up contributing to low voter turnout among young adults despite aspiring to take part in voting. Regarding the institutional barriers, the author notes that “there are the institutional hurdles – such as voter registration (quick – how many days before an election does your state require you to register?), and acquiring the accepted voter identification, which can vary by state.”[2] Fulwood III also affirms, “indeed, this election cycle saw several barriers to voting, including long waits, strict ID laws, and the potential for increased use of provisional ballots among minorities.”[3] It is clear that these institutional barriers take many forms and are significant impediments for young voters to take part in the voting process, hence the shortage.

As mentioned above, one of the institutional hurdles is strict voter registrations. Research by Claire Zhu also affirms “complex registration and voting” causes the shortage.[4] Notably, different states have different laws requiring voters to register to vote. In addition, most states require registration before the election day as most states set datelines for voter registrations. In most cases, these date cutoffs range from two to four weeks before elections in most states, while a small number require same-day voter registration. This strict voter registration, in most cases, is challenging to young adults who are just starting to vote, lack proper documentation, do not comprehend the registration process, or may have busy school schedules. Accordingly, “restrictive electoral environments disproportionately hurt young voters by decreasing the probability they turn out by 16 percentage points, compared with older voters.”[5] In addition, strict voter identification is another institutional hurdle causing shortages of young adult voters. Despite varying across various states, most states require an identity document issued by the governments at the polls to become a registered voter. In most cases, it is difficult for young adults to access such voter identification. For instance, young adults do not have passports or driver’s licenses, mostly accepted and recognized forms of ID. This strict necessity often disenfranchises young adults, hence barring them from taking part in the voting process. The accessibility to the polling stations is also a barrier hindering young adults from voting. In some states, the polling stations may be located in distant areas from where the young adults attend school, live or go to work. Similarly, some polling stations may have restricted working hours, hence failing to accommodate all voters or leading to long waits. In such instances, young adults often opt not to vote, causing the shortage. In the long run, the institutional hurdles cause the young voters “to miss out on representation, policies, and civic benefits that come with the practice.”[6] Basically, by failing to vote, these youths are not represented in political decision-making; hence often yield policies that do not address young adults’ problems.

Apart from institutional barriers, poverty is another factor causing shortages in young adult voters. Notably, poverty is a paramount factor hindering young adults from voting, particularly among the minority and young citizens earning low wages. Minority Americans and youths comprise the highest percentage of poor individuals in America. According to an article by Fulwood III, for a citizen to take part in the voting, the citizen has to be engaged and well-informed. Interestingly, knowledge and awareness of politics are determined by wealth. This means that the wealthy are well-informed and aware of political issues, while the poor are oblivious and unaware. Thus, high voter turnout among young adults in America is impossible as most youths are characterized by poverty, ignorance, and slander. Accordingly, “civic engagement—best exemplified by voting—depends upon an engaged and informed citizenry. But in America, it’s hard to be a good citizen if you’re poor, ignored, or vilified. Life is just too hard to worry about lofty issues such as public policies and partisan political intrigue.”[7] Fueled by poverty, it is apparent that poor people making up the majority of youths, do not take voting as an important exercise. Evidently, “among too many poor and minority Americans, voting and choosing elected officials just is not viewed as essential to their lives.”[8] It is poverty that is making the young adult voters not vote as they have more important problems like making ends meet than wasting their time in politics.

Additionally, poverty is making poor young adult voters excluded from political conversations. For example, “conservative members of the House Budget Committee held a series of five hearings on poverty but invited only one working-poor person to address their august body; they did not want to hear from a working-poor person.”[9] Since they are excluded, poor young adults do not see any need to take part in voting. Their habit of not voting is the reason they are ignored by politicians in the first place. On the other hand, poverty poses many challenges to young adults making it harder for them to even think about voting. For example, poor young voters often face issues like lacking access to transportation, information, and essential resources, making it challenging to take part in the civic engagement of voting. Since they live in poor neighborhoods, such places have restricted access to polling stations. Similarly, these young adult voters may lack the necessary funds to access the identification documents required for voter registration. In addition, since they are poor, such youths are necessitated to work for long hours or take up many jobs to make ends meet. At the end of the day, they do not have time to engage in political issues; hence often find themselves not taking part in the voting process. This can have tremendous consequences for them, like lacking political representation. As a result, policies will not be implemented to address poverty issues; hence, young adults will live in a cycle of poverty and class inequality. Overall, poverty is making many young adult voters not vote as it is not an important issue to them, hence the shortage of young adult voters.

In relating to Tocqueville’s perspective in his essay “Democracy in America,” the author highlights the essence of the civic engagement practice of voting, which is at the center of America’s democracy. In his essay, Tocqueville pinpoints barriers to civic engagement, especially among the minority African Americans, and why they do not vote. His book and ideas relate to this essay through his discussion of voting, institutional barriers, voter qualification, and why voters choose not to vote, especially young adults from marginalized groups. For example, in volume one of his essays, Tocqueville notes, “this is not the fault of the law: the negroes have an undisputed right of voting, but they voluntarily abstain from making their appearance.”[10] This portrays why minority groups do not vote, prompting the shortage. The author goes further to explore voter qualifications. He notes, “all the States agree in granting the right of voting at the age of twenty-one.”[11] He goes further to explain the requirements for voting across various states. For instance, in Carolina and Maryland, one was eligible to vote if they had over fifty acres of land, while in Tennessee, possession of the property was the only requirement. Though irrelevant today, his perspective relates to this essay in portraying institutional barriers and voter qualifications hindering some people from voting. Overall, Tocqueville’s perspective relates to this essay as they both discuss similar themes like institutional barriers, voter registration, and reasons why some people do not vote, explaining the shortage of young adult voters.

To conclude, it is evident that voting is an important civic engagement at the center of America’s democracy. Even though it is a constitutional process, many young adults do not take part in voting. Apparently, young adults are mostly learners with busy work and school schedules, and some schools are in distant institutions. Thus, it is evident that young adults do not vote because of institutional problems that hinder them from voting. These include strict voter registrations, registration datelines, strict voter IDs, and restricted voting hours in polling stations. All these problems make it hard for young adults struggling with their education and taking part in voting for the first time. Similarly, it is also evident that poverty is another factor why young adult voters do not vote. It is notable that the majority of young adults are poor and earn low incomes. Thus, their poverty status does not allow them to take political matters seriously, as they have important problems like working double jobs to make ends meet. It is also evident that Tocqueville’s perspective in his essay relates to this essay through its discussion of civic engagements. Both essays discuss similar themes in explaining why young adult voters turn out in low numbers to vote.