18-Year-Olds: Last Chance to Boost Your Impact with Same Day Registration

AND … at 79% of 18-year-olds registered to vote, Colorado is another stellar performer. Low youth turnout isn’t inevitable when a state decides to smooth the on-ramp to democracy.

Since you’re spending your Monday reading this post about voter registration rates for 18-year-olds, of all things, I guess you know Election Day is tomorrow. 

If you’re not knocking on doors, phone banking, text banking, or working on election protection or poll watching – or even if you are – I have one request. Send this post to a friend in one of the 20+ states with same-day registration and ask them to make sure everyone knows about same-day registration (and plans to vote. Please restack to ask others, especially young people, to do the same. 

And now for our final (21st!) data update of the 2024 election season, we wanted to end on a high note.

Colorado, you blow us away. 

As of October 10, a whopping 79.3% of 18-year-olds in Colorado are registered to vote. In Colorado’s 20 largest counties, no county has an 18-year-old registration rate lower than 70%.

The most impressive part: this is the first time we get to report that a state has reached registration rate parity between 18-year-olds and those 45 and over. Colorado’s statewide registration rate for those 45+ is 78.9%. 

In terms of state comparisons, Colorado is neck-and-neck with best-in-class Michigan, and far ahead of other states we’re tracking this election cycle. On the other end of the spectrum, Arizona, Maine and New Hampshire all have rates below 40%. New Hampshire is in last place as the only state we’ve tracked where fewer than 30% of 18-year-olds are registered. 

We rank New Hampshire as among the most difficult states in the country in which to register to vote. There is no online voter registration, no registration at the state DMV, and no mail-in registration. Registration has to be in person, which presents a major obstacle for young people who spend their days in school. New Hampshire also allows only a narrow window of time in which young people can register to vote before they turn 18. The state does offer same-day registration, at least one saving grace.

Michigan and Colorado, on the other hand, have passed a wave of pro-democracy reforms in recent years, including preregistration beginning at age 16, automatic voter registration, online voter registration, no-excuse absentee voting, and early voting.

These state variations in policies and registration rates send a clear message: The problem of low youth voter registration is not a problem that resides in young people. It derives from systems and practices states and school communities have put in place to welcome our youngest voters, or to block them out. Teens in Arizona, Maine and New Hampshire are just as awesome as teens in Michigan and Colorado, and they deserve an equal voice. 

A large part of Colorado’s success with registering 18-year-olds comes from the State’s success pre-registering 16- and 17-year-olds. As of October 10, 45% of 16- and 17-year-olds are pre-registered to vote, and that rate has been steady over the past few years we’ve tracked. That makes Colorado the gold standard in pre-registration among states where we have data. What’s more, effective January 1, 2025, Colorado is expanding pre-registration to 15-year-olds, which will give young people even more opportunity to register and engage in democracy.

See below for detailed scorecards for the 20 most populous counties in Colorado.

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