New Data: Georgia & Michigan–Georgia is among the best at getting 18-year-olds registered to vote

Still, more than half remain unregistered; Michigan excels and continues to climb

This week, we’re highlighting two high-achieving states, Georgia and Michigan, which have among the highest levels of 18-year-old voter registration compared to states we are tracking this summer.

This is the sixth of our 2024 Election Season weekly series of Future Voter Scorecards.

We’ll be publishing every Tuesday, drilling down to the local level to show where and how young people can make a difference when they register and vote. We’ll be covering the percentage of 18-year-olds who are registered and tracking changes over time.

Facts don’t fix themselves. It’s up to our readers to spread the word; make sure that all the young people you know are registered to vote, and that they help their school communities do the same. High schools around the country will be running voter registration drives during High School Voter Registration Week, September 23-27; students can attend a free workshop, and teachers can download a free toolkit to learn how to make a difference in their school communities.

Georgia

Statewide, 18-year-old registration rates in GA topped 43% as of latest data from August 19th. The variance in registration rates across Georgia’s 20 largest counties is low; the county with the lowest rate, DeKalb, still had a registration rate of 38.0%. In other states, we typically see much greater variation across counties.

GA over-performs many other states, especially given its age requirement for registration and the limitations of its online voter registration system. 

In Georgia, young people must wait until they are 17.5 before they can preregister to vote. Only 11 other states have a window as short as that or shorter. Among states shown in the chart above, Georgia’s age requirement is most similar to that of Pennsylvania, where the rate is nearly 8 percentage points lower. In addition, Georgia’s online voter registration system requires a driver’s license or state ID, whereas Pennsylvania’s does not. Still, GA is getting a higher percentage of its youngest voters registered. 

Policy counts for a lot, as Michigan’s numbers make clear. And implementation, including young people, parents, and educators, working to overcome the obstacles, matters too. 

We asked Detria Austin Everson, President and CEO of the John & Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation, which is championing high school voter registration across the state, for her take on the numbers, and here’s what she told us:

“Congressman John Lewis would be proud to see so many young people registering to vote and encouraging their peers to participate. Civic engagement meant everything to him. The numbers in Georgia are increasing, but we still have a lot of work to do. The John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation is committed to carrying on Congressman Lewis’ legacy and encouraging people to stay involved.”

While Georgia outperforms many other states, its registration rate for 18-year-olds trails that of Michigan by more than 30 percentage points. In Michigan, pro-democracy reforms have expanded registration opportunities for high school students, while the same cannot be said for GA. 

More than half of Georgia’s 18-year-olds – an estimated 85,000 – are still not registered to vote, with less than one month until the state’s registration deadline. That’s 85,000 potential 18-year-old registrants and 85,000 potential 18-year-old votes in a state where the 2020 presidential race was decided by fewer than 12,000 votes, 2022 Senate runoff by only 99,389 votes, and the 2020 Senate runoff by only 54,944 votes.

Below is a detailed scorecard on 18-year-old registration rates for Georgia’s 20 largest counties:

Michigan

Michigan continues to set the standard for registration rates for 18-year-olds. As of September 1st, an estimated 77.6% of 18-year-olds are registered to vote, which represents an increase of more than 3 percentage points in just one month. Michigan registration rates for 18-year-olds have been steadily increasing all year, but the jump of 3pts is another example of the acceleration we’ve seen in other states in the past month, likely driven by schools starting up again and the momentum that has developed over the summer in part due to the ticket change.

This is great news because acceleration in registration is what we need – in Michigan and every state. Even in Michigan, there are still an estimated 29,000 unregistered 18-year-olds across the state, and every one of them deserves to have a voice in November.

Below are detailed scorecards on 18-year-old registration rates for Michigan’s 10 largest counties, and school districts in Oakland County and Wayne County.