Young adults are less likely to follow politics or say voting is important: AP-NORC poll

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Mairekk Griffiths, a 26-year-old cook in a Denver suburb, doesn’t think he’ll ever pay a lot of attention to U.S. politics unless radical change happens.

“If another party was likely to win, I’d be interested in that,” said Griffiths, who voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential race but, like many his age, does not see voting as that valuable.

“I can’t say either way that voting matters,” Griffiths said. “It’s just picking the least bad option. That’s what I remember my whole life — both sides are bad, but this side is less bad.”

Young people such as Griffiths are less engaged with U.S. politics than older Americans and less likely to say voting is important, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Young people — even those who follow politics closely — are less likely to say issues such as the economy, government spending and health care are “extremely important” to them than comparable older adults.