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Young Voters With A Religious Passion

by Sara Snyder

Last week, the Public Religion Research Institute released the results of their survey on young Millennial voters and their predicted voting records for the 2012 election. The survey seems to be filled with good news on the young crowd participating in their civic responsibility on November 6th. Nearly two-thirds (66%) of younger Millennials (age 18-25) say they are currently registered to vote.

But the more impressive findings have to do with the way religion impacts candidate support. “Nearly half (49%) of younger Millennials say it is somewhat or very important for a candidate to have strong religious beliefs, while 48% say it is not too important or not at all important for a presidential candidate to have strong religious beliefs”.

While nearly split on the impact of religion in their support of a candidate, the chart on the right shows the breakdown of Millennial voters per religion and who they are likely to vote for. The majority of the young religious voters are lending their support to Barack Obama, but the white Evangelical Protestants are passionately in support of Mitt Romney.

With the countdown clock till election day continuously ticking, it may be the diversity of the young Millennial voter that inspires the general public to vote with their own views and passions regardless if they align with anyone else.

Image via Public Religion Research Institute Survey