Voter Participation (Midterm) in United States

United States

Voting is a form of active civic engagement, which is associated with better health. Civic participation during adolescence and early adulthood is associated with higher educational attainment and income in adulthood. Voting, in particular, as a form of civic participation was found to be associated with fewer depressive symptoms and fewer risky health behaviors. While the exact mechanisms behind in these relationships are unclear, research suggests that active civic participation improves mental health by providing a greater sense of belonging and decreased social isolation. 

The act of participating in one’s community by means of voting plays an important role in expressing one’s voice in the political process. Further, how people vote affects various aspects of life including individual wealth, rights, health care access and quality, education and social services programs.

Voter participation percentages during the last national midterm election were higher among:

• Females than males.
• Adults ages 45-64, who have a participation percentage nearly 2 times higher than adults ages 18-24; participation increases with each increase in age.
• White adults followed by Black adults compared with Hispanic and Asian adults, who have the lowest participation percentages.

Strategies at multiple levels are necessary to increase voter participation in the United States. The Center for American Progress recommends the following actions:  

• Streamline voter registration with automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, preregistration of 16- and 17-year-olds and online voter registration.
• Restore voting rights for formerly incarcerated people.
• Invest in integrated voter engagement and outreach.
• Election consolidation, whereby smaller elections share the same ballot with larger state and federal elections, could also increase voter turnout for smaller elections.

Healthy People 2030 identifies civic participation as a key issue in the Social and Community Context domain of the social determinants of health.

Ballard, Parissa J., et al. “Impacts of Adolescent and Young Adult Civic Engagement on Health and Socioeconomic Status in Adulthood.” Child Development, vol. 90, no. 4, 2019, pp. 1138–54. Wiley Online Library, doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12998.

Kim, Saerom, et al. “Civic Participation and Self-Rated Health: A Cross-National Multi-Level Analysis Using the World Value Survey.” Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, vol. 48, no. 1, Korean Society for Preventive Medicine, Jan. 2015, pp. 18–27. www.jpmph.org, doi:10.3961/jpmph.14.031.