An exciting turnout on Nov. 6 for young voters in the 2018 midterm elections including a new governor, GOP holding the senate and Democrats taking the House Representatives elected, new propositions, and a new set of voters were revealed on Nov. 6 after polls closed at 8:00 pm PST.

According to NPR News, in the last midterm elections of 2014, the United States had only a 40% voter turnout, while the presidential election in 2016 there was a 60% voter turnout, only 46% of  which were young voters from the ages of 18-24. This year the voter turnout for voters ages 18-24 was 10% higher than the midterm elections of 2014 according to US News and World Report. An estimated 113 million votes were cast in this election, according to The Guardian, a high contrast to the mere 83 million votes cast in the 2016 presidential election.

In reference to the increase in votes, U.S. History teacher Scott Harris said, “Voter increase in youth voting is in response to events such as the Parkland shooting and other school shootings, that was big for a lot of young Americans. You also keep seeing the increase in the cost of college and the help people aren’t getting for that. Overall it is in response to the Trump Administration .”

Advocating voting was high for young voters in this midterm election, due to the low percentage of young voters turnout in the 2014 and 2016 elections. Some of these were first time voters straight out of high school, or high school seniors. Northgate had some of their own new voters, like Senior Coleman Lee.

When asked why young adults should vote Lee responded, “If you think something is wrong in the country, you should vote to make a change.”