Despite increases in voter registration across generational cohorts in recent years, younger generations of voters exhibit significantly lower rates of registration.
Using data from the Cummulative Cooperative Election Study (CCES) from 2008-2020 we estimate rates of voter registration for voting age citizens across generational cohorts.
We find that:
- In 2020 Gen X, Baby Boomers and the Greatest generation had nearly 20%, 29% and 31% greater percentage points in their respective rates of voter registration than Millennials.
- In 2016 and 2020, Gen Z had the lowest rates of voter registration for any generational cohort.
- Up until 2012, Gen X voter registration rates had near parity with Baby Boomers but a gap has grown over recent years, with Gen X experiencing declining voter registration rates until 2016 and a slight rebound in the most recent election cycles.
