Politics with Paul

Approachable, nonpartisan, and nonideological analysis of various political topics by nonpartisan political analyst, writer, researcher, and speaker Paul Rader.

How Do We Improve Youth Voter Turnout? w/ Stephanie Houghton | Politics with Paul #78

E79 • Feb 3, 2026 • 64 mins

While voter turnout overall is notoriously low in most American elections, youth voter turnout especially lags noticeably behind older voters, even when there is an uptick in participation. Sometimes, that has led to criticisms of youth citizens as "lazy," "uninformed," "unengaged," or "selfish." But is it really that simple? And do we have to just accept low voter turnout as an unchangeable fact? In today's episode of the Politics with Paul Podcast, election reformer and seasoned political campaigner Stephanie Houghton sits down to discuss the issues facing youth voter turnout and how we can go about solving them. She shares many of her insights including why youth voters seem so disengaged, how we can go about fixing those problems, how youth voters can also help themselves, and the simple yet powerful act of genuine engagement with them.

Key Points

Younger voters often feel their votes don't count due to the Electoral College and low turnover in Congress, leading to disengagement.
Engagement with youth voters can be improved by implementing vote-by-mail systems and incorporating ranked choice voting to provide more candidate choices.
Campaigns should genuinely engage with youth by addressing their specific interests and demonstrating authentic commitment to issues they care about.

Stephanie's Links:

Substack: https://womanoffield.substack.com/ (redirect from https://democracytodolist.com/)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cirrus-strategies-stephanie-houghton/

My Links:

Download my FREE 5-day educational email course on how to fight polarization: https://detoxifyamericanpolitics.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulrader352/
Buy my book on Amazon (ebook and paperback): https://www.amazon.com/Why-Independents-Rarely-Win-Elections-ebook/dp/B09K8PYM5J/
My website: https://paulrader.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulRaderWrites
Medium: https://paulrader-42650.medium.com/
Email: [email protected]

Speakers

Paul Rader

Host • 36%

Stephanie Houghton

Guest • 64%

Chapters

0:00	Intro: Fixing Youth Voter Turnout, Stephanie Houghton
1:45	Why Stephanie is Invested in Youth Voter Turnout
5:45	Standout Experiences with Youth Voters, What Makes a "Youth Voter"
13:20	Biggest Reasons for Low Youth Turnout, How We Can Reverse Those Issues
19:10	Similar Reasons for Youth and Non-Youth Voters Not Turning Out?
21:06	Does How We Teach Civics vs. Government Lead to Lower Youth Turnout?
26:08	Is There an Existential Dread About Politics Unique to Younger Voters?
30:22	The Importance of Optimism and Small Actions in Politics
32:46	How Election Systems Can Be Reformed to Improve Youth Voter Turnout
38:37	Potential Lessons from Ireland's Ranked-Choice Proportional Representation System
41:19	Convincing Politicians to Support Policies They Don't Think Benefit Them
43:35	What Youth Voters Can Do to Improve Their Own Civic Engagement
48:18	Proven Strategies That Have Led to Higher Youth Voter Turnout
53:00	Advice for Any Political Campaign on Reaching Out to Youth Voters
57:50	Random Question: Which State Has the Best-Looking County Boundaries?
1:02:27	Closing and Our Links

Transcript

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