Gabby Balmer poses for a photo after voting for the first time at Desert Breeze Community Center in Las Vegas on Election Day Tuesday Nov. 8, 2022.
Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Seth Lewis, a 20-year-old UNLV student, had voting in this year’s midterm election penciled into his schedule — but his plans were not exactly set in stone.
“I plan to vote, but I wouldn’t say it’s super important,” the UNLV junior said Monday while on his way to a class at the Lied Library. “If there’s something else that locks up my schedule, I won’t go.”
Traditionally, college-aged Americans — those from 18 to 24 — are less enthusiastic about voting than their older counterparts, especially those 55 and over, according to USA Facts, a nonprofit organization that compiles data and reports on the U.S.
Ken Miller, an assistant professor of political science at UNLV, said young people often were less motivated to vote than older people.
“The older you get, the more likely you are to vote. That’s especially true in midterm elections,” he said.
That’s not especially good news for Nevada Democrats, who hoped to overcome stiff political headwinds to make a strong turnout in several hotly contested races.
Traditionally, young people tend to be more liberal than older voters, according to the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank.
“That’s a difference that’s been getting stronger over time. If more young voters turn out, that’s almost always good news for Democrats,” Miller said.
More than 200,000 Nevadans between 18 and 24 are registered to vote, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Only about 31,000 of those young voters identified as Republicans, while more than twice as many called themselves Democrats.
On the UNLV campus Friday, the final day of early voting in Nevada, Nicole Koval was among a steady stream of people casting their ballots at the Lied Library.
“From my perspective, I haven’t noticed a lot of interest” in the election among students, said Koval, a political science doctoral candidate and part-time political science instructor at the university.
“It’s a midterm election, and a lot of people don’t vote in midterm elections, especially young people. … Presidential elections will always be bigger,” she said.
More than 158 million people voted in the 2020 presidential election between GOP incumbent Donald Trump and the eventual winner, Democrat Joe Biden.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data, about 63% of the voting aged population exercised their right at the ballot box in 2020.
The 18-to-24-year-old demographic showed up in larger numbers than normal in the 2018 midterms and the 2020 presidential elections, an encouraging sign for Democrats going into this year’s vote.
“That might have just been that the president at that time attracted people to vote against him,” Koval said, referring to Trump.
Polls leading up to this year’s midterms have shown young voters were largely disenchanted with Biden’s job performance.
About 17 million people in the U.S. will have turned 18 between the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections, according to the Brookings Institution.
Nicole Brinkman, a junior at UNLV, said she planned to vote in person on Election Day and was unlikely to let anything stop her.
Brinkman, who voted in the 2020 election, worked this election cycle knocking on doors for some candidates she supports.
“The people we vote for help decide the laws in our state, so we have to vote for the person who supports the same stuff we support,” Brinkman said. “A lot of my friends are early voting. The people I know are pretty interested in this election, but I know that a lot of people aren’t.”
Gabby Balmer, a high school senior and first-time voter, definitely was interested in voting.
Balmer turned 18 last week and was already looking forward to participating in this election, she said. Her “parents played a big part in” encouraging Balmer to exercise her right to vote, and her mother accompanied her to the Desert Breeze Community Center to cast their ballots together for the first time.
“We talk a lot of politics in my house, and it’s important that we all vote,” Balmer said. “And just seeing how many people don’t vote, I think it’s important to (participate).”
It also helped that the Clark County School District gave its students the day off for staff development, allowing many eligible high school seniors to try their hand in the civic engagement they learn about in class.
Armed with her election “cheat sheet,” a nervous Balmer said she “had no idea what to expect,” but had “a good experience.” She couldn’t pinpoint any issues that resonated with her this election, but Balmer did say she voted “straight Republican.”
Will Pregman, a spokesman for Battle Born Progress and the Institute for a Progressive Nevada, said young people were often unfamiliar with the election process and could be discouraged from voting if they didn’t understand it.
“Historically, younger voters tend to turn out less often, especially during midterms,” he said. “We believe it isn’t due to lack of interest but due to an unfamiliarity with the process or the candidates or questions on the ballot.”
Because the race between incumbent U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and her GOP challenger, former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt, could determine which party controls the Senate, Nevada has been flooded with political ads.
To many younger voters, the barrage of ads “just seems like noise,” Koval said.
Staff writer Grace Da Rocha contributed to this report.
