There will be 25 million young people under the age of 25 who will be old enough to vote for President for the first time in the November 1972 Presidential election. 1 These young adults will comprise 18 percent of the total resident population of voting age. About 11 million of these new age-eligible voters will be 18 to 20 years old and about 14 million will be 21 to 24 years old. The exceptionally large number of new voters is the result of the Voting Rights Act Amendment of 1970 which lowered the voting age in National elections to 18 in all States after January 1, 1971. California and New York are expected to have the greatest number of potential new voters in 1972–more than 2 million each. Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan will each have more than 1 million potential new voters.

Others in Series

Publication

Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1971

November 1971

Detailed tabulations provide statistics on the marital status and living arrangements of the United States population using data from the 1971 CPS.

Publication

Voting and Registration in the Election of November 1970

November 1971

Slightly more than half of the civilian population of voting age were reported as having voted in the November 1970 Congressional election.

Publication

School Enrollment in the United States: 1971 (Advance data)

March 1972

These school enrollment results are based on the Current Population Survey conducted in October 1971.

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Voting and Registration Publications

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