West Virginia has very low voter turnout. Will this election be different?

In West Virginia, many young voters express apathy and pessimism about casting their ballots. But several groups are working to persuade them to go to the polls in November.

Over the last three decades, West Virginia’s voter participation has been well below the national average. In 2020, the coal-rich state had the second-lowest citizen voting rate in the country, after Arkansas, according to the U.S. Census.

Several researchers studying community engagement in West Virginia said its narrow job market and the influence of the coal, oil and gas industries on its economy may be contributing to the low numbers.

“We bleed our young talent away from the state,” said Samuel Workman, director of the Institute for Policy Research and Public Affairs at West Virginia University. “So, we disproportionately lose our younger-age folks. If you’re a young person and you’re not aligned with the party in power, it makes it very hard to see how your vote matters.”

Early voters line up to cast their ballots in Vienna, W.Va., on Oct. 21, 2020.Stephen Zenner / AFP via Getty Images fileJust 55% of West Virginia’s employable population was working or actively seeking work as of July — ranking the state 50th in labor force participation. That has spurred some working-age people to move away, giving West Virginia the largest population loss by percentage of any U.S. state from 2010 to 2020, according to census data. It now has the third-highest percentage of residents ages 65 and older.

Together, those factors have contributed to a sense of pessimism among some young voters about their state’s future, along with apathy about casting their ballots, according to several experts, advocates and voters. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/west-virginia-low-voter-turnout-rcna167866

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