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Florida's youth vote skyrockets after Parkland students' activism

University of Florida political science professor Dan Smith analyzed state voter data released last week. About 37 percent of the state's 18- to 29 year-olds voted in November, a 15 point increase compared with the 22 percent who voted in 2014. The teenage survivors of the shooting that killed 17 last year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School rallied...
Cameron Kasky
Cameron Kasky, center, speaks at a news conference on June 4, 2018, in Parkland, Florida, where a group of school shooting survivors announced a multi-state bus tour to "get young people educated, registered and motivated to vote."Wilfredo Lee / AP

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — State voter data shows that Florida's youth vote in the 2018 election was significantly higher than the previous midterm after get-out-the vote efforts by Parkland school shooting survivors.

University of Florida political science professor Dan Smith analyzed state voter data released last week. About 37 percent of the state's 18- to 29 year-olds voted in November, a 15 point increase compared with the 22 percent who voted in 2014. That's especially notable for midterm elections when turnout is typically low.

The teenage survivors of the shooting that killed 17 last year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School rallied hundreds of thousands to march for gun reform, landed on the cover of Time magazine and raised millions of dollars from celebrities like Oprah and George Clooney.