Voter turnout rates in presidential elections, by generation % of eligible voters who say they voted
Given the historical context of relatively low voter turnout among young adults, Millennials seemed ascendant in the 2008 election when 50% of eligible Millennials voted. By comparison, 61% of the Generation X electorate reported voting that year, as did even higher percentages of Boomer and Silent Generation eligible voters. In 2008 Millennials comprised 18% of the electorate, but as a result of their relatively low turnout (compared with older generations) they made up only 14% of Americans who said they voted.
Voter turnout rates in presidential  | elections, by generation  | % of eligible voters who say they voted  | 69% 70% 72%  | 70% 72% 70% Silent/Greatest  | Boomer  | Gen  | 64  | 61  | 61  | 60  | Millennial  | 51  | 50  | 6  | 46  | 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016  | Note: Eligible voters are U.S citizens ages 18 and older.  | Millennial refers to the population ages 20 to 35 as of 2016  | Source: Pew Research Center tal bulations of the 1996 2016  | Current Population Survey November Supplement (IPUMS).  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 