AARP Hearing Center
When it comes to being heard at the ballot box, America’s older voices are getting louder.
That older voters turn out in numbers well above other age groups is a truism in electoral politics — “almost like a law,” says Michael McDonald, a professor of political science at the University of Florida.
But it hasn’t always been that way: In decades past, younger cohorts voted at higher percentages than those 65 and older. It wasn’t until the 1980s and ’90s that turnout among people 65-plus eclipsed other age groups tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau. Since then, the gaps between older voters and younger ones have generally grown.
The reasons for the change are both simple — increasing voter-outreach efforts by groups focused on the needs of older Americans — and complex: a deeply felt sense of civic involvement among those who became active in the 1960s and ’70s. And over the years, voting has become easier, with mail ballots and expanded in-person options more prevalent.
What’s more, older people know voting matters — a lot.
“There are two issues that absolutely dominate the interests of our constituency: Medicare and Social Security,” says Nancy LeaMond, AARP executive vice president and chief advocacy and engagement officer. “It’s also very clear that elected officials have a big role to play in those programs.”
In the 2020 presidential election, 71.9 percent of Americans 65-plus said they voted, according to Census Bureau surveys. For those 45-64, it was 65.5 percent; for those 25-44, 55 percent; and for those 18-24, 48 percent. That figure for voters 65-plus was the highest it’s been since the Census Bureau started tracking the numbers in 1964.
The pattern holds true in midterm elections as well: Voting by those 65-plus has been increasing and outpacing other age groups.
Polls conducted in 2024 for AARP confirm that. Asked to rate themselves on a scale of 1 to 10 on their motivation to vote in November, 91 percent of older voters in Ohio gave themselves a 10; the numbers steadily dropped for younger age groups — to 69 percent for the youngest one. The pattern held in other states.
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