Pennsylvania’s Urgent Need for High School Voter Registration

Over 200,000 young people who are either 18 today or who will be 18 by November remain unregistered

May 06, 2024

Under 25% of 18-year-olds statewide are registered to vote
The registration rate for 18-year-olds is more than 50 percentage points lower than that of those age 45 and above
Statewide, roughly 200,000 young people who are either 18 today or who will be 18 by November remain unregistered

NOTE: In an effort to inform high schools and catalyze action, The Civics Center will publish data on voter registration rates for Pennsylvania’s 18-year-olds monthly through the summer, and weekly until the registration deadline on October 21.

Election Day is now just 6 months away, and Pennsylvania’s young people will be disenfranchised unless every high school in the state assists its seniors in registering to vote before they graduate.

If young people are not registered, they are not in the voter file. They remain invisible to candidates and campaigns, and their concerns will not be addressed and they will continue to feel ignored by the system.

In the ten highest population counties in the state, not a single one has a registration rate for 18-year-olds at or above 30%:

The numbers also show significant declines in registration rates for 18-year-olds compared to the period close to the 2022 midterm elections. In the Philadelphia metropolitan region, for example, the rate has declined by 11 percentage points in the 18 months since October 2022.

At the school district level, the disparities are larger than those at the county level. In Allegheny County and in the Philadelphia region, the top five school districts all had registration rates for 18-year-olds above 35%, whereas the lowest were all below 15%. The details are shown in the Scorecards at the bottom of this post.

All of these rates pale in comparison to the registration rates for Pennsylvanians age 45 and above, showing the massive disenfranchisement of the youngest potential voters in the state:

Registration rates for Pensylvanians age 45 and above:

• Statewide: 76.4%

• Allegheny County: 77.8%

• Greater Philly: 78.2%

With the state primary behind us, 17-year-olds in Pennsylvania are now old enough to register if they will be 18 by November 5, 2024. The last day to register to vote in Pennsylvania is October 21, 2024. That’s less than six months in which to motivate and assist the 200,000 17- and 18-year-olds who are not yet registered in the state register and make a plan to vote (that’s more than 1,100 every day).

The opportunity

CIRCLE at Tufts University identifies Pennsylvania as one of the states in which young people can have the greatest electoral significance in races for both President and US Senate. But that won’t happen if 200,000 of them remain unregistered.

All of which is why The Civics Center and our partner organizations have been hard at work, setting students and schools up to make sure that graduation season is also voter registration season.

In addition to sharing data reports and assisting in youth voter registration drives, The Civics Center in Allegheny County, along with partners (League of Women Voters, PA Youth Vote, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, New Pennsylvania Project, National Council for Jewish Women, Alliance for Police Accountability, and PA Youth Advocacy Network), convened a “Youth Vote Huddle” with 55 students representing 11 different schools all coming together for a day of learning and planning. They came away with a better understanding of their power to make change, and committed to holding student-led/adult-supported voter registration drives in their schools.

The Civics Center also is concluding its signature Educator Forum, facilitated in partnership with PA Youth Vote, a 5-part series for educators from across the state. The Civics Center is providing stipends and guiding educators in how they can embed voter education in their curriculum and anchor student-led registration drives in their schools.

Ultimately, the most educational, efficient, and equitable, way to welcome young people into our democracy is through universal high school voter registration. Not everyone goes to college, and not everyone gets a driver's license. But everyone goes to high school. We know that students talking to one another about what is at stake and how they can make a difference can have a transformational impact, in both the short- and long-term. They need resources, training, and community encouragement to get engaged and help their friends do the same .

If you are in Pennsylvania, we urge you to forward this post to students, parents, educators, and policy makers with one simple point: Graduation season is voter registration season. There’s still time for students and educators to train to run a drive. Let’s get ready.