MUSCATINE, Iowa -- Muscatine County held early voting at a local community college, drawing several young voters who said they may not have gotten to the polls otherwise.
The group NextGen Iowa lead a petition drive to bring the early voting site to Muscatine Community College.
The organization says it has registered more than 14,000 young people to vote in Iowa, in addition to its work leading petitions to bring early voting to college campuses around the state for young people who often can't make time to vote on election day.
"Young people move often, so that means there are barriers with registration," said Lindsey Rayner, a NextGen Iowa staffer. "They're just very busy people," she said.
Rayner said that young people often don't feel like they're being connected with by campaigns, but that face-to-face interactions helps increase turnout.
"I really didn't think it was important," said Muscatine Community College sophomore Mark Zogg-Kellett, who was casting his ballot for just the second time, following the 2016 presidential election. "Obviously it is, but it didn't seem at the time to be super important. It was kind of their persistence," he said.
NextGen Iowa says that young people are the largest voting bloc in the state, and if they turn out in numbers closer to older generations, could have a huge impact on the electorate.
The Muscatine County Auditor's office said that 43 people participated at the early voting location at Muscatine Community College.
