Nema Eldakar knows how hard it is to get young adults to vote.
The IU Indianapolis senior is president of the campus chapter of Women4Change, a nonpartisan group that encourages civic engagement.
Voting may not be top of mind for young people, Eldakar said. That can be especially true for the college students she’s trying to convince to vote in the upcoming midterm election.
“It’s like, do I worry about the environment and all these political issues that have just been debated for years?” Eldakar asked. “Or do I worry about my midterms that are coming up?”
Over the last three midterm elections, turnout nationally for 18- to 29-year-olds has been about 15 percentage points lower than overall voter turnout.
In Indiana, the numbers for young voters tend to be worse. In a statewide poll of likely Indiana voters conducted by Free Press Indiana and Bellwether Research ahead of the midterms, 30% of respondents ages 18-34 reported feeling more enthusiastic about voting compared to previous elections, while 57% said they’re feeling about the same as usual.
And during the first eight days of early voting in Indianapolis for the November election, 9.7% of the 2,880 voters were between the ages of 18 and 29, according to data from the Marion County Clerk’s Office. The most recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates from 2024 show 18- to 29-year-olds make up about 23% of Marion County’s eligible voters.
Nigel Long understands the challenge.
Long, 32, is the director of Black: A Festival of Joy. The organization partnered with LiveFree Indiana to create Naptown Votes, an initiative to increase civic engagement ahead of the election Nov. 3.
Long said it can be easy for young people to get overwhelmed before an election and decide to not participate.
“But this is an opportunity for so many of us to lean in,” he said.
The problem is clear for Naptown Votes and others trying to drum up voter engagement ahead of the general election Nov. 3.
The solution is more complicated.
One key: ‘The right messenger’
Garrett Andrew Warner Sr. used to be the young person who wasn’t engaged.
Now, Warner runs Naptown Votes. And he’s learned that the person doing the talking can be more important than what they’re saying.
“If the wrong messenger comes,” Warner said, “no one’s gonna listen.”
For Naptown Votes, which is focused on younger Black voters, being the right messenger means showing up where people will already be — places like the hip-hop festival Chreece or the BUTTER Fine Art Fair.
Naptown Votes also plans to be at 4200Kory’s show on Oct. 25 at Turntable.
“We talk to them,” Warner said. “We look like them, sound like them.”
But even with the right message, one obstacle could still be in the way.
What if you don’t like the candidates?
Voting for the ‘least worst person’
For Amy Courtney, talking one-on-one with people is one of the best ways to get them engaged.
Courtney is the executive director of MADVoters, a nonprofit that helps educate and engage Hoosier voters. The organization spends a lot of time tabling on college campuses and attending community events.
Courtney said it’s important to show people how voting can give them a voice.
“It resonates,” she said, “especially when there’s candidates that are responsive and listening.”
But that’s where the problem is for Darrick Compton, a first-year student at IU Indianapolis.
Compton, 19, always felt like politics and elections divided his family. And researching issues ahead of the November election didn’t help.
“When I looked it up, it looked really complicated,” Compton, who is from Monrovia, said.
He hasn’t sworn off voting altogether. But he said it feels like in many elections, especially when the president is on the ballot, it feels like you’re voting for the “least worst person.”
So, what would it take to draw Compton to the polls?
“If I knew that they were genuine and I knew what they were trying to change,” he said, “then I could see myself voting.”
Free Press Indiana commissioned the poll by Bellwether Research. It surveyed 896 registered voters in Indiana from October 8-11 via telephone interviews and online surveys sent by text message. The results are based on responses from 839 likely voters, and the margin of error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. Bellwether Research’s clients include former Gov. Mitch Daniels, Eli Lilly and the Nature Conservancy in Indiana.
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Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers housing and labor. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick and Bluesky @tyfenwick.bsky.social.
Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire by email claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org, at 317-759-0249 or on most social media @clairerafford.
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