OHIO — There's still hundreds of thousands of ballots to be counted in a few states as of Thursday morning, but new data shows young voters ages 18 to 29 are turning out in droves to make their voices heard.
Initial estimates suggest between 47% to 49% of eligible young voters cast ballots in these key battleground states: Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Arizona, Montana, Iowa and Colorado, according to data from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University. That number is expected to rise as more votes are counted.
So far, young voter turnout between each state has been between 13% to 16%. Nearly 10 million total have voted nationwide.
CIRCLE has data for 39 states, and young voters in 33 of them backed former Vice President Joe Biden. Presdent Donald Trump grasped the youth vote in five states: Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Indiana and Kansas.
Many states are still tabulating large sums of ballots. The nation is keeping its eyes on Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, North Carolina and Nevada Thursday as the race narrows. But in those states, a majority of young voters are also backing Biden. Both Arizona and Pennsylvania had 50% of young voters cast ballots for Biden. More than 50% did the same in Georgia, and in Nevada, Biden got 63%. North Carolina's young voters supported Biden by 57%.
Of the 39 states with data available, Colorado has the highest percentage of young voters backing Biden with 64%. Mississippi had the most backing Trump with 63%.
The state with the lowest young voter turnout is Kentucky with just 10%. Virginia has the highest with 20%.
Nationally, voters between the ages of 18 to 29 are supporting Biden by a large margin with 63%. Of the 30 to 44 age group, Biden has a narrow lead with 54% percent. Voters 45 and older are supporting Biden by a wide margin.
Although young voter turnout this year seems high, it's still slightly lower than the turnout in 2016 and 2012, according to
CIRCLE.
Nearly 24 million young voters between the ages of 18 to 29 participated in the 2016 election, which is nearly 50% of eligible young voters total. Of the total votes last election, young voters made up 19%, which is the same as 2012.
Latino and Black youth are also having an impact in this election.
As those five states continue to count ballots, data shows the majority of Latino and Black youth are backing in key battleground states.
In Arizona, 71% of Latino youth voted for Biden. A little more than 50% of white youth voted the same.
More than 90% of Black youth in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas also supported Biden. In Texas, young white voters preferred Trump over Biden, 51% to 45%.
