Will millennials flex their muscle on Election Day?

This election year there are roughly as many millennial voters in America as there are baby boomer voters. While they have potential to affect real change at the ballot box, they just don't turn out in the same numbers as older voters.

Is it because they think candidates don't care about issues that matter to them, or is there something else driving their ballot box apathy?

"The perception is that, you know, Hillary's a liar and Donald's a racist so why should I vote for either of these guys," said David Cahn, author of "When Millennials Rule: The Reshaping of America." "I think there's a very jaded feeling among this generation."

Cahn, along with MPR News host Kerri Miller and Ange-Marie Hancock, associate professor of political science gender studies at the University of Southern California, discussed what is keeping millennials out of voting booths and what changes are necessary to shift their voting habits.

Younger voters might be staying home because they feel powerless to make a difference after the perceived lack of social progress during the Obama administration, Hancock said.

"Eighty to 90 percent of our lives is actually affected by the folks who represent us at the state level," Hancock said. "If you care about some of the issues that have come up, whether it's something like legalization of marijuana or whether it's something like Black Lives Matter, most of those kinds of critical impacts happen at the state level."

Cahn pushed back, saying putting an emphasis on down ticket voting wouldn't be enough to get all millennials involved.

"That's really hard to say to people who don't necessarily think voting is a top priority and are very, very angry at the outcome of this election," Cahn said. "When the top of the ticket is so ugly, and the debate is so different from what we want to be hearing I think it's very hard to say, oh but your local city council matters."

The guests also talked about millennials' level of involvement in politics, as well as ways they feel excluded, and how to make it easier for those with hectic schedules to make it to the ballot box when the time comes.

To hear the full conversation, click the play button above.