Young voter turnout in midterm elections is often dismal. This year could be different

Less than a week after a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school, shooting survivor and high school junior Jaclyn Corin found herself in at the Florida state Capitol.

There in Tallahassee, she led a group of more than 100 students to attend more than 70 meetings with state legislators, urging them to pass measures that might prevent mass shootings like the one that had just ravaged their school. 

Corin, 18, called the trip "eye-opening." She said she met several legislators who weren't receptive to what she had to say. That convinced Corin and other Parkland shooting survivors – many of whom were not yet 18 – that there was only one thing they could do to ensure their demands would be met. 

“You can always lobby and you can always protest," Corin said. “But the only direct way to actually get involved is to vote.”

Eight months later, voters of Corin's generation are a highly-watched cohort as the midterm elections loom. Voters ages 18 to 29, whose turnout has historically been low in midterm elections, could help decide close races across the country.