Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is partnering with liberal voting rights groups to promote politics in schools, workplaces and social media in an effort to boost turnout from young voters.

With widespread reports young voters are uninspired by President Joe Biden, Benson released a report this week on “youth voting turnout gaps” and hosted a roundtable in Detroit in coordination with the Michigan Department of State Collegiate Student Advisory Task Force, NAACP Detroit, League of Women Voters and APIA Vote.

“In 2022, Michigan led the nation in youth voter turnout, and what this new report makes clear is we’ve still got work to do,” Benson said. “There are still too many young people in Michigan whose voices are not being heard at the ballot box.

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“In 2024 we will work with nonprofit partners across the state to give every eligible young voter – no matter who they vote for – the tools and information they need to fully participate in the upcoming elections,” she said. “And we will encourage everyone in our state to be part of this outreach to help us ensure that all eligible citizens are aware of their options to vote this year and beyond.”

The Secretary of State report shows among residents aged 18-29, nearly 60% who registered to vote never showed up to cast their ballot in 2022. In 2020, it was 38.9% of registered youth voters who ultimately did not vote.

Voting rates among youth were higher in urban areas, and lower in rural areas, according to the report.

In Detroit — which traditionally votes overwhelmingly for Democrat candidates — Benson and her liberal allies discussed ways to improve turnout of young voters, particularly those without college experience. Suggested strategies include targeting communications on social media, distributing voter education information in workplaces, promoting early and absentee voting, pumping voter information through youth organizations, and leveraging influencers to promote voting, The Center Square reported.

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The discussion followed Benson’s visit to the McQuiston Learning Center in Battle Creek in May, when she hosted a simulated primary election, recruited teen poll workers, and solicited entries for the state’s “I Voted” sticker competition. Battle Creek also votes overwhelmingly for Democrat candidates.

“It’s been incredibly inspiring to connect with the next generation of voters in our state and help them see their power,” Benson told WWMT last month. “I want them to know how to exercise that power, how to cast their votes, especially in a state like ours … we go through the process so they understand their options, their vote, and how important their voice is.”

“We’ve done different things with the schools and with Battle Creek Central in civic engagement,” Sue Rosko, with the League of Women Voters, told the news site. “Getting kids to really recognize how important it is for them to register to vote and to learn what’s on the ballots, that’s a huge push.”

Registering teens to vote has taken on a heightened importance as President Biden continues to struggle to court young voters in the run up to the general election in November.

CNN noted in late April “young voters are part of Democrats’ natural base of support, but Biden is actually 11 percentage points behind Trump among young voters 18-34 in a head-to-head match in a CNN poll conducted by SSRS.”

Much of the opposition stems from Biden’s handling of Hamas’ ongoing war against Israel, though they’re more unhappy with the direction of the country in general than other age demographics.

A staggering 68% of young Americans consider Biden’s presidency a failure, while 62% are dissatisfied with the direction of the country, according to the poll data.

Harvard University’s Institute of Politics detailed similar results in its annual Spring 2024 Harvard Youth Poll conducted in March, which surveyed 2,010 Americans between the ages of 18 and 29.

Benson’s efforts to court young voters is part of a broader effort to promote voting that involves plenty of taxpayer funded help from her office and the Biden administration.

In March, Benson inked a memorandum of agreement with the Biden’s U.S. Small Business Administration to allow the SBA to actively register voters in Michigan until 2036, fueling suspicions the initiative is mainly focused on targeting likely Democratic voters.

That effort is in addition to another that will leverage Michigan’s U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs sites to funnel voter registration information to veterans and their families.