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Arizona's youth vote to play a determining role in congressional elections, study reveals

Posted at 9:08 AM, Oct 06, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-06 14:58:54-04

A new study is revealing young voters may play a determining role in shaping the next congressional delegation from Arizona. 

The Youth Electoral Significance Index, a ranking of the congressional districts where young people have the highest potential to play an important role in the upcoming elections, reveals our state has a total of three congressional districts in the top 50.

The report ranks Arizona's first, second and ninth districts in our state among the very top congressional races in the country where young people could have the biggest influence on the election outcome this year.

Of the three districts that appear in the top 50, the highest ranking, which is number 12 overall, is the Arizona first district, which includes Tucson's metropolitan areas. 

In 2012, according to experts, the congressional race was decided by only less than 10,000 votes. Young people cast more than that number of ballots. 

In addition, the Arizona senate race between Senator John McCain and U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick also appears in the ranking of the top 10 senate races where young voters are expected to have a great impact.