Over the past three decades, West Virginia’s voter turnout has been well below the national average. In 2020, the coal-rich state had the second-lowest citizen voting rate in the nation, behind Arkansas. According to the US Census.
Several researchers studying community engagement in West Virginia said its tight job market and the impact of the coal, oil and gas industry on the economy may have contributed to the low numbers.
“We’ve driven our young talent out of the state,” said Samuel Workman, director of West Virginia University’s Institute for Policy Studies and Public Affairs. “So we’re disproportionately losing people at a young age. “If you’re young and you don’t fit in with the party in power, it becomes very difficult to see how your voice matters.”
Only 55% of West Virginia’s employed population were working or actively looking for work as of July – state rankings 50th in labor force participation. That prompted some working-age people to move out, with West Virginia experiencing the largest percentage population loss of any U.S. state from 2010 to 2020, according to Census data. It now has the third highest percentage of residents 65 and older.
These factors have combined to create pessimism and voter apathy among some young voters about their state’s future, according to a number of experts, advocates and voters.
Moreover, the state has voted reliably Republican since 2000, and the share of ballots cast for candidates on the right has grown significantly over time. The lack of competition has kept the state from getting much attention from presidential candidates, and this year Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is stepping down after a close election in 2018. His seat is expected Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican, further narrowed the race between the two parties in West Virginia.
Nevertheless, as November approaches, several organizations across the state are trying to convince young voters to go to the polls.
Gary Zuckett, CEO West Virginia Civic Action Groupan advocacy organization working to increase the voice of citizens in public affairs attributed the lack of voter enthusiasm to a loss of faith in the political system.
“The bottom line is that…no matter what we do, we’re always going to fall. Why does he vote?” he said.
Zuckett’s group works to educate potential voters and increase turnout by attending and sponsoring sporting events and festivals.
“We’re trying to show West Virginians that voting is not only a right, but a responsibility,” he said.
The group is also contacting voters whose registrations have been removed for not voting in the last few election cycles. By state policy, West Virginia voters who have not updated their registration or voted in the previous four years must respond to a notice confirming their registration. If they do not, they are considered inactive; if they do not vote in the next two general elections, their registration is cancelled.
According to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office, 400,000 West Virginia voters have been purged from state voter rolls since 2017.
The state bill aims to shorten that period even further, to two years instead of four. It has passed the West Virginia Senate, but not yet the House.
Junior Walk, 34, an environmental activist in Naoma, is one of the state’s young voters who do not plan to go to the polls.
“There is no difference between your politicians,” he said. “The politician will get behind the coal company because the coal companies are the ones with the money, they will give them campaign contributions.”
Walk, the outreach coordinator for the nonprofit Coal River Mountain Watch, said his father and grandfather both became ill after decades of working in the coal mines. These days, he uses a drone to monitor and record potential violations by coal companies in active mine sites and abandoned zombie mines. (Zombies are coal mines inactive mines that were never properly closedas a result, it can pollute the local water and damage the natural habitat.)
Walk is using video evidence to file civil complaints with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.
“I prefer to focus on the here and now and what I can do as an individual to make that change and make a difference here in West Virginia,” he said. “And I don’t think any presidential election is going to affect that much.”
Neal Barkus, president of the nonpartisan environmental advocacy group West Virginia Conservancysaid he’s heard similar sentiments from other young West Virginia voters.
“A lot of them are disillusioned in a way that they don’t think their voices matter and they don’t think much can be done to change the situation,” he said.
But Barkus’ organization plans to do so as the election approaches educate voters learn online about how climate change affects their lives, and place targeted ads on social media about candidates with strong environmental platforms and information on Election Day.
“Hopefully, by putting those two things together, we’ll move the needle a little bit in November,” Barkus said.
Zuckett similarly said one of his group’s priorities is to raise awareness of the climate crisis among West Virginians. According to him, in his propaganda work, he noticed the growing interest of young voters in climate problems.
“The presidential election gives us a little bit of a boost in terms of turnout,” Zuckett said, “We’re hoping for better than average turnout this year.” We see people going there, and the climate crisis is a driving factor.