YOUNG BECOMING INVESTED IN VOTING

group outnumber the more than 60,000 Republicans.

The proportion of active voters ages 65 and older has stayed roughly the same since the last midterm. They are by far the biggest bloc at more than 371,000, skewing Republican by roughly 12,000 votes. They represented more than 24.4 percent of active registered voters in September compared to just under 24.6 percent at the same point in 2014.

Harnessing the power of young voters requires turnout, an area where young people have historically fallen short. More than 55 percent of people ages 65 and older voted in the 2014 midterm, according to census data. Almost 39 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds voted, with the lowest turnout among 25- to 34-year-olds at 15.9 percent.

“When Obama was president, we didn’t really realize that so much would be impacted with the upcoming election and now it has been, so we see direct issues actually impacting us now, and it’s turned us into activists,” Bumanglag said. “We have the voting power, we can actually make the changes that we need, if we all just show up to vote.”

Nextgen and Our Lives Our Vote collaborated for National Voter Registration Day in September to register students on a selection of high school and college campuses. Alex Farrington of Our Lives Our Vote, a group that wants to register at least 50,000 high school students across 10 states, said campus officials reached out to voter registration groups to get them on campus.

Farrington said there had been a swell of support and energy around voter registration since a Florida school shooting killed 17. That shooting galvanized young people around the country to lead March for Our Lives events calling for new gun laws.

“The students themselves are even more engaged and even more excited, coming up to us and talking about their vote,” Farrington said.

Farrington said the group estimated about 5 percent of any given high school senior class was likely to be at least 18 years old on Election Day. In Nevada, 17-year-olds can pre-register to vote if they turn 18 by Election Day.

“Teachers, principals and students are actually reaching out to us to come to their schools and register them to vote, which is not normal, to put it bluntly,” Farrington said. “It really is a lot of work to get into these high schools and make the connection in the first place … we’re realizing that instead of having to put in the elbow grease to actually get through the door, which is often the hardest part, the schools are holding the door wide open and begging us to come in.”

People can register online at Registertovotenv.com through Thursday.

Early voting starts Saturday and ends Nov. 2. Election Day is Nov. 6.