O’Neill student pushes for young voter involvement in elections

Nineteen-year-old O’Neill Public Policy major Connor Elliott has already been on the frontline of elections.

In spring 2023, he served on the reelection campaign for Indianapolis’ mayor. That opportunity led to another—campaign manager for a state representative—which led to another.

“Every two years the state party holds a state convention, so you can run for state delegate,” he says.

He earned a state delegate seat in his home district but had bigger plans. Elliott wanted a seat at the national convention table.

“The norm had been that most of the national delegate positions were held by people who were middle-age and older,” he explains.

Elliott wanted to serve not only as a voice for young people but as an example as well.

“I’m just some 19-year-old kid from Shelbyville, Indiana—middle of nowhere,” he says. “But I had the opportunity to go to the national convention. That’s not common.”

Not common but also not impossible.

State delegates pick who represents Indiana at the national convention. He campaigned among those delegates, waiting outside caucus doors, sending personalized text messages, and handing out flyers.

He says the response was excitement.

“There’s been a push for younger people to be represented and have more influence in the process,” he says. “Young people need to get involved now, not because they need to make decisions in the future, but because the decisions we make right now affect the future.”

Voter turnout among 18–24-year-olds in presidential elections has been on the rise, climbing from 38% in 2012 to 48% in 2020. Elliott hopes he is playing a part in another increase for the 2024 elections.

He won one of the three available seats and attended the national convention. He says the experience was both politically invigorating and personally empowering.

“You’re in the room with people who are 30, 40, or 50 years old, but you’re also making decisions alongside them,” he says. “My opinion was of the same weight as theirs because I had demonstrated through my work that I could make decisions and be influential.

He wants other young people to wield their influence as well, even if the thought of getting involved may feel intimidating.

Elliott says his real-world work coupled with lessons learned through his O’Neill courses helped ease that feeling and gave him the footing to hold his own among a crowd of leaders.

“The classes I have taken allowed me to better understand the political process and become more educated on policy issues. Understanding that and conversing with people who really care about policy has really helped. I now believe young people can get involved and be politically impactful. It takes work, but it is possible.”

And Elliott says now is the time for young people to make that happen.

“As a party, we need to pass the torch. We need to start bringing in the next generations,” he says. “We can only do that by showing up and showing the older generations that you are here, that you are ready, and that you want to take up the mantle. That’s the only way it happens.”