The verdict is in: Millennials are not voting as much as prior generations and they are not voting nearly as much as some pundits believe they should be.

Political writer Philip Bump and other analysts are coming to the conclusion that any campaign relying on millennials will not succeed. This upcoming generation has even been dubbed the “political dropouts,” a new term to add to the growing list of others such as the “narcissistic generation.”

Should millennials be passed off as a self-centered group too invested in their smartphones to care about politics? The data suggests otherwise.

A 2014 General Social Survey replicated the classic Sidney Verba et al examination of American political participation in 1967 and 1987. As it shows, generations over time have become less involved in local elections. Even so, involvement in areas such as civic volunteerism has increased. This notion is also supported by the American National Election Study, which found that about 30 percent of the public tried to influence others how to vote in elections from 1952 through 1996, reaching more than 40 percent of the public since 2000. The World Values Survey shows that protest activity has increased since 1981, and so has political consumerism and political activity on the internet. The point is, while millennials are not voting as much as they should be, they are still very engaged in social issues.

Today’s millennials are significantly less likely to vote or influence others to vote than millennials in the 1967 and 1987 surveys. At the same time, current millennials’ political interest is about equal to that of the prior generations. In fact, UCLA’s 2015 survey of first-year college students in the U.S. found “Interest in political and civic engagement has reached the highest levels since the study began 50 years ago.”

Examples of such engagement are underscored  by millennials’ activities like contacting local government, actively working in their communities, and participating in protests at the same rates as those previous generations, even though they are not voting as much.

There are also bigger discrepancies between different generations’ political behaviors today than there were in the 1967 and 1987 studies. However, the 1980s generation, now entering middle age, has the same high political involvement as young Americans in the 1967 survey. Essentially, the perceived “apathetic” generation of the 1980s is politically more active at a later stage in life, which might also explain the current status of millennials and perhaps will mean a similar change in behavior as they age.

Motivating millennial voters

Considering a growing sentiment that nearly half the country distrusts Washington, in context of the high political involvement of millennials, one thing is clear: millennials want change. If change is what they are after, then change is what they must vote for, regardless of who they vote for.

The “who” is a big factor in this upcoming election. For starters, both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have historically unfavorable ratings, which many believe will lead to a lower voter turnout in the general election.

According to FiveThirtyEight analysis, each candidate is more disliked than any other presidential nominee in the past ten election cycles. Splintered Republican party “Never Trumps” failed in their attempt to bring forth another candidate and many democrats, the millennial majority among them, have vowed to abstain from voting at all. Both parties seem to be faced with choosing the lesser of two evils: “Not voting for Hillary is a vote for Trump” and vice versa.

Indeed, a recent Meet the Press segment featured an unlikely pair sharing common ground. Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore and conservative political commentator Glenn Beck lamented over a disaffected electorate, and each prescribed taking personal action to force change.

Dissatisfaction of the main presidential choices aside, conversations aimed toward millennials regarding choice are quickly emerging, the attitude being that any choice is a good choice. In 2012, some 93 million eligible citizens did not vote, an estimated 62 percent of that number being young Americans. Since millennials will dominate the number of eligible voters this year, it is important to get this point across. Doritos recently released a commercial titled “No Choice.”

The commercial opens with young, ethnically diverse Americans giving reasons why they are not registered to vote: “I haven’t found the time,” “I don’t like politics,” and, naturally, “Old people go out and do that for us.” The commercial then shows a Doritos vending machine which reads, “Have you registered to vote yet?” and prompts buyers to select “Yes” or “No” before purchasing their snacks. Those who selected “No” receive a bag with a slip that explains, “You get no chip! If you’re not registered to vote, this bag is for you. It has no taste, no crunch, no choice, because if you don’t vote, someone else chooses for you just like this.” The young Americans of course then realize if they do not register to vote, then they have no say in the election and others will inevitably choose for them. Cheesy? Very. Oversimplified? Sure. Doritos seemed to have the right intentions, though.

The responses varied from, “Do they at least get a refund?,” “This is propaganda,” “Can’t you just click yes? #Loophole,” “We have a right to not vote,” “Actually, our votes mean nothing…Just look at our trash candidates,” “This is peer pressure,” and “Doritos are good, Trump and Hillary are bad.”

Though it is highly unlikely a Doritos commercial alone will change the opinion of millions of people and persuade them to vote, these are the types of conversations that need to occur. Because millennials are the biggest group of eligible votes, and the data suggests millennials do care about politics and the November election outcome (the evidence is all over social media), the importance of their vote is indisputable. Millennials have a moral responsibility to go out and vote, whomever they may be voting for. The pressure is on, and they could make or break the outcome of this election.

photo credit: kennethkonica The message is #VOTE and I plan on it! via photopin (license)