Week 3 - A Party Problem

This week, I prepare to replicate my methodology for the next legislative variable: Automatic Voter Registration, a policy with similar intentions to Same-Day Voter Registration, boosting voting and increasing accessibility. But before I seek these results, I aimed to research a major challenge to my findings and how I could correct for it.

Political Parties & The Youth Vote

Does the political party in charge influence efforts to appeal to the youth vote? The Democratic and Republican parties have historically prioritized it differently according to their reach with these age groups; In 2024, around two-thirds of 18-24 year-old voters aligned themselves to the Democratic Party, indicating a clear advantage gained by the youth vote for Democrats (Pew). As a result, great divides have formed on the opinions surrounding early voting or decreasing registration requirements. Where 84% of Democrats and Democratic-leaners agree with the concept of Automatic Voter Registration, only 38% of Republican and Republican-leaning responders agree (Pew, 2021).

So time and time again, we see legislation specifically catering to the youth vote and needs during elections. The Youth Voting Rights Act, sponsored by the Democratic Sen. Warren and Sen. Williams, exemplifies this as it proposes pre-registration and on-campus polling sites among other additions. And as Sen. Warren was quoted claiming Republicans responsible for voter suppression laws that “silence youth voices,” the issue of target demographic reflects in policy-making and both parties’ agendas.

Correcting This Influence

So how do I ensure that the changes I notice are from the laws themselves and their effects over time, not simply due to the political party in charge? First, the current method of comparing a treatment state to a control group helps, and can be improved by creating a treatment group of similar states as well. The treatment states would all have to adopt the policy simultaneously, offering a more limited view to compare my previous results to, rather than a new method to rely on.

As a secondary analysis after checking for the effects of legislation, I can additionally monitor campaign spending and how it is directed to young voters. In this way I can assess if it differs between parties, and identify periods of constant campaigning to use for my studies (rather than times with more fluctuation).

AVR Data Collection

Once again, I’ll be referring to the National Conference of State Legislatures for their data on the Automatic Voter Registration laws in each state. With each state implementing AVR in a much more recent range of the past 2 decades, comparing a treatment group to a control group is significantly more practical.

Thanks for reading!