2018 looks to be a very promising year for the Democratic Party. With intense activism and resistance to unpopular Republican politicians, it seems that a blue wave is on the horizon. The Illinois primary elections that took place on Tuesday could have been a concrete example of the increase in voter motivation.

But it did not quite work out that way for millennials. While there were encouraging signs of higher turnout of Democratic voters in general, the turnout of voters aged 18-24 was at an abysmally low 3%. Of course, primary elections typically do not draw the same amount of interest from voters, but the current political conditions demand a higher level of engagement from those who wish for a better government. When you consider how close the race was between Dan Lipinski and Marie Newman, one must consider the Illinois primaries to be a cautionary tale of how passion on social media may not translate into ballots cast at precincts in November.

Millennial Politics reached out to Democratic organizations throughout Illinois to get their insights and feedback on why the turnout was so low and what they expect in the general November 2018 elections.

Millennial voter turnout was very low, as is often the case for primaries in general—this is especially true regarding college students who aren’t from the area or state. [One] issue is that most Democrat groups do not endorse in primaries, which makes it even harder for us to generate student buzz around primary elections.

DePaul College Democrats, Doug Klain:

Not only is it a non-presidential election year, it’s the PRIMARY for an off-year election. Few campaigns have figured out the formula to get young people to turn out, and clearly even an über-progressive like Biss wasn’t enough of a motivator. I’m sure we’ll have better turnout in the General, but unfortunately it’ll probably feel for a lot of young people like a decision between two not-great options.

Young Democrats of Illinois, Christie Lacey:

We were disheartened to hear the poor results for millennials during the midterm elections. Millennials will soon be the largest voting bloc in our state, with huge power to sway elections, but if we can’t turn out at the polls, the issues that matter to us will never be prioritized. Millennial turnout is always low for midterm elections, but this year it was particularly unusual given that the overall voter turnout in our state was the highest it has been in more than a decade. It could be that young people feel disillusioned with politics with Donald Trump leading our country, or it could be that none of the candidates spoke to millennials in our state. Regardless of the reason, we believe that millennial turnout will be significantly better in the general election. The whole state, including millennials, was negatively impacted by the 793-day budget impasse. Universities in our state lost funding, had to get rid of programs, and dropped in national rankings. The new debt our state carries because of the budget impasse will be placed on the backs of young people. The stakes are high for millennials and there are many reasons to care about this next election. We need someone who can deliver this message to millennials in Illinois. Our Democratic nominee for governor, J.B. Pritzker has the resources to do and we have every belief that he will. He has been innovative in reaching voters in Illinois thus far and has opened 18 campaign offices across the state during the primary alone.

So it seems there could have been a few factors involved in the low turnout levels: the inability to endorse candidates at the primary level, a lack of candidates that inspired the 18-24 demographic to turn out, and the possibility that many potential millennial voters have lost faith in the political process.

Endorsements at the primary level could be tricky; how can a Democratic organization choose between a Blue Dog anti-choice Democrat and a progressive pro-choice Democrat in a primary election without losing credibility among some members of the party? If an organization supports the losing candidate in the primary, how can the organization support the winning candidate effectively in the general election? Perhaps direct promotion of the primary elections instead of candidate-focused initiatives would be able to impart the importance of these elections; voters who ignore the primaries may end up with another conservative Democrat like Lipinski who doesn’t represent their ideals.

Most of the candidates in the Illinois primary elections last week were middle-aged and although there some female and minority candidates, there may not have been enough diversity to motivate millennial voters to turn out at the ballot box. This seems simple enough to fix: get more diverse candidates to run. Various organizations like Run For Something, Emerge America, Victory Fund, and She Should Run have been working on this project for some time now and some results are starting to show, like Danica Roem winning in Virginia and Allison Ikley-Freeman doing the same in Oklahoma. Finding qualified younger candidates may be the next step in creating a political atmosphere with which millennial voters feel personal connections.

The most effective way to restore the faith of millennial voters in the political process will be the exit of Donald Trump from the office of President of the United States. His attempted erosion of the pillars of democracy and the rule of law causes severe difficulties in convincing millennial voters that the American political system is in working order. If the Democrats can take back control of Congress in November, the impeachment and/or dismissal of Trump and his cronies would do much to strengthen the faith of those voters. Until that time, those voters need to be constantly reminded that better days do lie ahead… if they turn out to vote. Candidates who are more accessible on social media may provide extra transparency and possibly generate that personal connection required for many voters to actually physically turn out for the election.

It shouldn’t be assumed that millennial voters are going to show up in November, even if they share ideals with progressive and responsible candidates. Figuring out how to engage them through social media apps like Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat are going to be crucial to get their levels of voting participation at a high enough level to affect the November elections. Perhaps a non-profit organization with the goal of promoting non-partisan voter registration and participation through social media specifically aimed at the millennial voter bloc could be the answer.

As always, if you aren’t registered to vote, do it now!