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UPDATE: Millennials Choose Clinton, But Not Enough Vote
Results show that voter turnout in America was down in Election 2016.
And while Millennials nearly blanketed the voting map for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, there weren't enough of them to overtake Baby Boomer voters for President-Elect Donald Trump.
America's largest generation, Millennials, voted for Clinton. Millennials are people who were ages 18 to 34 in 2015.
But President-elect Donald Trump won two significant age groups: 65 and older with 53 percent to Hillary Clinton's 45 percent, and 45 to 64 year olds with 53 percent to Clinton's 44 percent, according to exit polls. This means a large majority of Baby Boomers, America's second-largest generation, voted for Trump.
Baby Boomers are defined as people between the ages of 51-69.
This map from Survey Monkey shows the extent of Millennial voting for Clinton.
However, a deeper look into Millennial voting shows a move toward Trump that would not be predicted from looking at earlier data. Clinton managed to get 5 percentage points less from the 18- to 29-year-old voting block than Obama garnered in 2012.
We do not know the exact turnout numbers of Millennials yet, as votes are still being counted, but the youth vote declined from 51 percent in 2008, to 45 percent in 2012, according to The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.
What could have caused voter apathy among Millennials?
One common theme was the race was a choice between a lesser of two evils.
Millennials could've been compelled to stay home instead of vote in an election they don't believe in, or feel disenfranchised from. The Guardian talked to voters in Nevada who said they "don't like this election," and were weighing if they would vote or not.
In a Harvard Poll of Millennials recently, that age group expressed fear about the future. "Everything seems out of control, and our politicians care more about themselves than doing the right thing for all Americans. We're extremely divided, and very few seem to have any interest in trying to unite us," said one respondent.
Lack of faith in the future is also a possible factor in turnout. Fortune reported that "After decades of failed wars and economic policies that have exacerbated income inequality and left half of all millennials living paycheck to paycheck, millennials have lost faith in our political system to solve their problems."
It is also simply harder to vote as a young adult, as Millennials are mobile, moving from school to work. "If politicians want more young people voting, they can find ways to encourage it," said the Washington Post. Making it easier to obtain an absentee ballot, or automatic voter registration, might offer more benefits than costs.
Trump will be inaugurated on January 20, 2017. Protests by Millennials and other young Americans are erupting in large cities nationwide.
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