Young Voters Want To Make Themselves Heard In Hawaii — But They Don’t Always Know How

A month before Hawaii’s primary election, 18-year-old Misty Cruden is starting to feel nervous. She wants to elect local leaders who take climate change seriously and care about high-quality education for all students, but she’s also worried about the outcome of the presidential race in November.

“So many things are on the line at this point,” said Cruden, a student at the University of Hawaii Hilo and a member of the Hawaii State Youth Commission. “Getting older, I know the decisions we make now are really going to affect us.”

Young people are a growing portion of the electorate, with more than 8 million members of Generation Z eligible to vote for the first time in the 2024 elections. But voter turnout among young people tends to be low.

Approximately 30% of Hawaii residents ages 18 to 24 participated in the 2022 election, compared to 60% of voters who were 65 or older.

It’s important for young people to participate in elections, not only to voice their opinions but also to develop good voting habits, said Colin Moore, an associate professor of political science at the University of Hawaii Manoa. If people begin voting from an early age, they’re more likely to continue the practice throughout their lives, he added.

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Some Hawaii schools have encouraged their students to preregister to vote and participate in mock elections, but opportunities around civic engagement vary across the state. Challenges like registering to vote for the first time or casting ballots from out-of-state can deter young people from participating in elections at the same rate as older voters.

Marli Mason, who also serves on the youth commission, said she’s excited to vote for the first time but is worried about the logistics. Mason will move from the Big Island to Massachusetts to attend college in the fall, but she’s unsure how she’ll participate in Hawaii’s elections from the mainland.

It’s also hard for youth to feel engaged when candidates often cater to the priorities of older, more consistent voters, Moore said. At the same time, young adults may lack the basic knowledge of how to register to vote or cast their ballots for the first time.

“Everything is pushing against high levels of youth participation,” Moore said.

More Information Needed

As a first-time voter, Anela Martinez said she would like more readily accessible information about the elections. Schools don’t hold regular discussions on voter registration or candidate platforms, and students may lack the motivation to seek out these materials on their own, said Martinez, who recently graduated from Punahou School.

Teachers try to include civic education in their classes, but initiatives around voter registration and lessons on the elections aren’t always a high priority, Moore said. The Hawaii Department of Education requires all high school students to take a semester-long course on democracy and government.

Despite the required course, it still feels taboo to talk about politics or elections in schools, said Kiana Rodriguez, a recent graduate from Waianae High School. While her classes taught her the basics of American government, Rodriguez said, she didn’t feel prepared to engage in local politics until she participated in extracurriculars like the Hawaii State Student Council.

Major national and worldwide events, like the Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, may have boosted young people’s political awareness and involvement, said David Ball, program coordinator at Punahou’s Davis Democracy Initiative. The program promotes civic education and engagement in public and private schools.

Through social media, Ball said, students can watch political movements and protests evolve across the globe. Compared to past generations of students, Ball believes more young people today understand how issues like reproductive rights or climate change directly impact their lives.

“I think they feel they’re living in consequential times,” Ball said.

But Camron Hurt, program manager at Common Cause Hawaii, said candidates also need to do a better job of engaging young voters. Politicians often target the priorities of older citizens, who consistently turn out to vote, and place less emphasis on debates like the legalization of marijuana that are important to young people, he added.

Shanoa Quanan, a student at UH Hilo, said she plans on voting for the first time this year and tends to lean toward the Democratic Party. But, Quanan added, she feels that most candidates don’t emphasize issues like affordable housing or the rising cost of living as much as she’d like.

Other young people in Hawaii said their top priorities include reproductive rights, climate change and access to high-quality education.

Rocklin Youngstrom, a student at Liberty University and the chair of Hawaii Young Republicans, said she’s looking for candidates who have clear plans to reduce the state’s homeless population and lower taxes to address Hawaii’s cost of living. While the Democratic Party largely dominates Hawaii politics, Young said she still encourages members of Young Republicans to vote and advocate for change.

“We’re not getting the results we want,” Young said.

A Push For More Engagement

While schools play an important role in creating informed citizens, it’s also difficult to engage teens when they’re not old enough to vote, Ball said.

For example, while Punahou’s graduating class has over 400 students, only 20 seniors may be old enough to vote during an election year, Ball said. Some students move to other states for college and face the additional challenge of voting from the mainland, he added.

“You miss the timing,” Ball said.

School-based programs like Kids Voting Hawaii can help students develop civic engagement skills before they turn 18, Ball said. The initiative allows students to vote for local and national candidates on a mock ballot during election years.

Hawaii is also one of 18 states allowing teens to preregister to vote starting at age 16. Once preregistered voters turn 18, they will automatically receive a ballot in the mail during election years, said Hawaii Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago.

Last year, Nago said, the Office of Elections partnered with 34 public and private schools to help students preregister and learn more about voting. Hawaii currently has over 1,500 preregistered voters.

Organizations like the League of Women Voters and Hawaii State Youth Commission have also ramped up outreach at local schools to raise awareness around the preregistration process. But, Moore said, some students are still unsure how to register to vote or fill out a ballot, especially if their schools don’t place a heavy emphasis on civic education.

To promote greater civic engagement among young people, legislators introduced a bill this year that would have allowed students to use their University of Hawaii IDs to register to vote. The bill also proposed making all 10 UH campuses in-person voting centers.

The bill failed to pass, with county officials raising concerns about the cost of running and staffing additional voting centers. Other testifiers raised concerns that allowing students to vote with their university IDs could result in fraud, since out-of-state and international students receive the same cards.

But, Hurt said, he thought the bill was a step in the right direction. Not all students have the money to purchase state IDs, he said, and all counties could benefit from more in-person polling stations.

“Voting takes the bare minimum, but it seems like another task for a young adult,” Hurt said.

Marissa Matsushige, who graduated from Kauai High School last year, said she first understood the importance of voting after the 2016 elections. Since then, Matsushige said, she’s tried to stay informed about elections, but it’s hard to balance her responsibilities at school with following politics at the local and national level.

“Politics, especially as a student when I’m in school, it’s not the thing that takes up brain space,” Matsushige said. “I just think that there’s not enough awareness.”

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This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.