Arizona has a well-documented history of legislation that creates barriers to voting. Fortunately, recent court decisions have overturned some of the most egregious voter suppression laws that sought to require voters to provide extra documents proving their citizenship and birthplace to vote in state and local elections.
Did you know there is a crisis in youth voter turnout in Arizona?
In 2022, only 24.8% of eligible young adults ages 18-29 voted. As of September 2024, only an estimated 39.9% of 18-yr olds in Arizona’s five largest counties had registered to vote. Unless this trend is reversed, these young Arizonans will not have a voice or representation in Arizona government.
In addition to a startling lack of youth participation, Arizona also faces major gender and race disparities:
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Only one of Arizona’s eleven representatives in the U.S. Congress is a woman.
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Only 18 Latina women serve in the 90-member Arizona State Legislature even though roughly a third of Arizona’s population is Latino/a.
While these are disappointing statistics, they motivate and drive our work in The Grand Canyon State.
