There are some things candidates are doing to try and reach young voters.
DOTHAN, Ala. - Alabamians will head to the polls on May 19th to exercise their civic duty in the upcoming primary, but it’s expected that many young voters will stay away from the polls. “I think there’s just a disbelief in what the government stands for, what they can do, how productive it can be,” said Markcus Cooper, President of Democrats of Troy University, said.
According to Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, 47% of people ages 18-29 casted a ballot in the 2024 presidential election. That number was lower in Alabama, with only 42%.“Young people are formulating their life in their 20s; they’re in college, or they’re formulating the beginning of their careers. As they reach late 20s or 30s, they’re starting families, they’re trying to make ends meet financially. It’s just a normal situation that as you look at each decade of life, 20-year-olds vote at very, very low ratios,” said Flowers. A lack of awareness when it comes to elections and a disconnect between politicians and young voters may also contribute to the low turnout. “Certainly politicians are much older than us, and I think they don’t know some of the key issues that are affecting us. Also, I think that there’s sort of a lack of awareness, maybe they don’t know what primaries are,” Alex Sorrells, Vice Chairman of Houston County Young Republicans said. “We’ve done a lot of door knocking with campaigns and with the Young Republicans, and we have come to find that people don’t know there’s a primary coming up.”“The issue, voting one side or the other, both are kind of awful currently. It’s not the side. It’s not the individual opinion. It’s the people themselves,” said student Elijah Molesky. During non-presidental election years like this year, the turnout across the board is even lower. But it could be the chance for voices to be heard even louder. “No matter who’s in Washington, who is here locally, that’s who is going to impact your property taxes, all the things that are going to affect you right now in your daily life,” Sorrells said.“There are really high-paid consultants that work congruently with pollsters, they have a pollster that tells you what your generation wants to hear. It’s become very sophisticated,” Flowers said.“I think they want to engage and have a chance to speak, and most of the young people are not going to seek that out,” Sorrells said. “So I think they want to be reached out to by these campaigns.”“Politicians have to start delivering on the promises that they’re making on the campaign trail. When people are involved in the political climate, they want to see fruits of the labor from the politician come into fruition,” Cooper said.“Bottom line is, politicians make a lot of decisions that affect your life. From president, to governor, to legislative seats, congressional seats...they’re involved in your business, you should be involved in their business,” Flowers said. Download the WTVY News4 app to get alerts and stories the moment they are published. Available for FREE in theTruck driver killed in fiery crash was a grandfather of 15 set to semi-retire, family saysMore than a restaurant: El Palacio’s 60-year legacy lives in Ozark memories
Alabama Primaries Alabama Election May 2026 Alabama Young Voters Alabama Primaries Turnouts Alabama Primaries Expected Turnouts Young Voter Participation Alabama Alex Sorrells Steve Flowers Marckus Cooper Elijah Molesky
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