Pennsylvania Ranks Last in Registering Young Voters as Deadline Nears

Pennsylvania is last in the nation at registering its youngest voters, and the clock is running out to change that before Nov. 3.

Twenty-seven percent of the state’s 18-year-olds were registered as of late September, according to new data from The Civics Center, a nonprofit that tracks youth registration. That is the lowest rate among the states it studies.

The number is actually an improvement. It is up five percentage points since July and six points above September 2022, when just 21 percent of 18-year-olds were registered.

Researchers blame the system, not the teenagers. Pennsylvania does not let residents preregister before age 18, unlike half the states, and its registration windows leave little room for school-based drives. Laura Brill, the group’s founder, told Votebeat that states with preregistration consistently post higher rates.

The registration deadline for the Nov. 3 general election is Oct. 19.

The stakes are highest in college corridors. Temple, Penn and Drexel sit in and near some of the country’s most contested House districts, where a few thousand student votes could matter.

Groups like PA Youth Vote are pushing campus registration drives in the final days. Whether the late surge continues may decide whether Pennsylvania climbs out of last place.