Large percentages of young American voters say they have no faith in Congress, the justice system or the media, and millennial also seem to be moving away from the Democratic Party, according to a new poll by Harvard University's Institute of Politics (IOP).
A massive 83 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds say they have no faith in Congress, while 49 percent said they have no faith in the justice system's ability to "fairly judge people without bias for race and ethnicity."
When it comes to confidence in the media, only 12 percent of respondents said they trusted the media industry to "do the right thing" all or most of the time, placing the media dead last in a list of other institutions and professions in terms of trustworthiness. The military ranked highest at 53 percent.
IOP polling director John Della Volpe commented that young voters are "up for grabs" in 2016, reported McClatchy.
"There are plenty of opportunities for Republicans to make inroads with the generation. If Republicans can hold the Democrat nominee to less than 60 percent of the young vote nationally, their chances are dramatically improved for a Republican Electoral College win, in my opinion," he said.
While most young people polled said they would rather see a Democrat take control of the White House in 2016, the poll found that significantly less young people support the Democratic Party for 2016 than they did when Barack Obama was running against John McCain in 2008.
Fifty-five percent of respondents said they would vote Democratic in 2016, while 40 percent said they would vote Republican, down sharply from the 66-32 percent support they gave Obama in 2008. Hillary Clinton received support of 47 percent of respondents in the IOP poll.
When considering only young white voters, 53 percent said they prefer a Republican president.
"Millennials are on a completely different page than most politicians in Washington, DC," Volpe added. "This is a more cynical generation when it comes to political institutions."
The poll surveyed 3,034 millennials between the ages of 18 and 29 from March 18 to April 1.
