Some of them fervently support Donald Trump and some adamantly oppose him, but either way, nearly three-quarters of habitual nonvoters plan to cast a ballot in November, according to a large Knight Foundation poll of the bloc.
The survey of 12,000 "persistent nonvoters" nationwide intended to learn about the bloc, why its members typically didn't vote, and whether 2020 might be influenced by them coming off the sidelines, according to NBC News. The group was defined as either unregistered or people who had only cast a ballot in one of the last six national election cycles. This year, "both pro- and anti-Trump attitudes were motivating factors to vote, with 19% supporting the president and 22% against. Thirty-one percent said civic responsibility was a factor for voting," writes NBC.
The demographic breakdown skews slightly more female at 53%, 40% millennial, and mostly white at 65%. They are typically single, less likely to have a college degree, and don't earn as much as frequent voters. Barriers to participating include feeling like they don't have enough information about the candidates, with some reporting that they feel "depressed, discouraged or distracted" by the news and often intentionally tune it out.
The study notes that nationwide, more than 100 million people who are eligible to vote don't do so, including the 41.3% of eligible voters who didn't vote in the 2016 election cycle.