The Registration Gap vs. the Participation Gap

Fair Vote has an interesting piece up giving a good explanation as to why young voters turnout in lower numbers than older voters. The gist is this - young voters face more barriers to registration than do older voters and are thus registered at lower rates. Young voters who are registered turn out at comparable rates to older voters:

The Registration Gap
While young people are paying attention to this election and voting in record numbers, there is still a worry that come November, candidates who rely on the youth vote will be disappointed. It’s not because young people don’t want to vote, it’s because there are too many bureaucratic hurdles preventing youth participation. In 2004, 72% of the general population was registered to vote and 88.5% actually voted. In contrast, only 58% of 18 to 24-year-olds were registered, but surprisingly, over 81% showed up on Election Day. This shows that there is not really a participation gap, but there is definitely a registration gap.