From speaking to young American voters between the ages of 18-29 from across the nation and globally, you will find a cacophony of voices ranging from unbridled indifference to exuberant optimism on the U.S. election. However, in a close Presidential election, every vote counts, and any subgroup of voters could have a significant impact on the outcome.
In 1971, the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 and historically, young voters have seen high participation in elections, especially in the 2020 presidential cycle, when youth turnout was about 50% . According to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University, there are 41 million members of Generation Z (ages 18-27) eligible to vote of which 50% represent people of color and about 50 million in the full 18-29 age category defined as “young voters.” This also represents 8 million new eligible voters who were born between 1995 and 2006.
In regions with key swing states, Asian, Black and Latino people comprise a significant share of new eligible voters. Take for example, Lorena James who lives in North Carolina. Lorena says, “As young professionals, we have a responsibility to channel our aspirations and vision for a better world into meaningful actions—including casting our vote.” For me, as a Black woman, there was a time in our history when voting was out of reach, and this hard-won right is something I once took for granted, but this year, I’m casting my ballot with renewed purpose. My grandmother understood the weight of this privilege and, on her deathbed, completed an absentee ballot in New York State. Though she is no longer with us, it comforts me to know her vote still counts. Her determination to fulfill her civic duty until her last moments inspired me to vote early this year and become more involved with local government. Her legacy reminds me that every vote is both a right and a responsibility.”
For many young female voters, the issues of abortion and women rights have been a galvanizing issue. In a surprising new poll just released, Vice President Kamala Harris holds 47% to former President Donald Trump’s 44% among likely voters in the final Iowa Poll before Election Day from the Des Moines Register and Mediacom. That margin falls within the poll’s 3.4 point margin of sampling error and suggests no clear leader in the state, which has widely been rated as solidly in the GOP column during this year’s campaign.
In Georgia, Cole Walker recently graduated from Tsinghua University in Beijing with a Master’s degree in Global Affairs (as a part of Schwarzman Scholars). Cole says, “As a young African-American man, voting is more than just a civic duty, it’s a right and an honor. It’s an honor to live out the legacy that my ancestors fought so hard to make possible. To me, voting ensures that we honor past sacrifices and maintain a stake in our futures.”
On the final weekend before Election Day, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump ramped up their last-minute pitch to sway votes, with both parties trying to specifically encourage Black men while also targeting young voters in general which they haven’t done in the past.
Asian Americans, the fastest-growing racial group in the country, are concerned about what the future political landscape entails for them. Coming from different communities across East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific Islands, there are more than 24 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders living in the U.S. Often referred to as AAPIs, this population makes up seven percent of the total American population; their votes are crucial in an election where a small margin of victory could be decisive.
Lin Kai Ye is a Cardiovascular Perfusionist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Lin Kai describes how, “My parents came from Wenzhou, China and coming from an immigrant family, I saw first hand the struggles and sacrifices my parents endured so that me and my siblings can have a better future. I am the first person in my family to attend college, and I believe that requires a responsibility to be an informed voter, but more importantly, I have a civic and constitutional responsibility to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that I can vote.”
Mark Caleb Smith a Cedarville University political science professor says, “American politics is so polarized and opinions are so hard among most of the population, there just aren’t that many persuadable voters. And so the goal becomes to find new voters. … You look for young voters who are brand new to the system and try to pull them in, shape them from that point forward.”
Harris’s campaign has focused on memes in it’s social media outreach to younger voters. The campaign also sought to court younger voters with policy announcements to provide payment assistance for first-time homebuyers and to provide a $6,000 tax credit for new parents. Young voters in both camps have seized on certain messages to ridicule or to emphasize certain values which have ranged from Tik Tock, Instagram reels of dance videos about eating cats and dogs to Trump depicted as the Messiah.
Trump has courted young men by appearing on the social media platforms of men with huge followings, from YouTuber Logan Paul to video game streamer Adin Ross to doing interviews podcasting giant Joe Rogan. This is because the largest single voting group in America belongs to white voters. Republicans have been dominant with them in the last 20 years, but with the growing Latino and Asian American populations, white voters have been on a sharp decline as a share of the electorate since the 1990s.
No demographic group is homogenous and there is significant diversity throughout the swing states on a range of issues, however, by and large, youth voter registration has increased in both the Harris and Trump candidacy. There are some issues around what young voters don’t want; when a political platform espouses a lack of gun control legislation or denies climate change, and restricts freedoms, you will struggle to convince a majority of young voters who care passionately about these issues. According to Christianity today, a majority of evangelical voters overall, will be casting their vote for Trump. However Evangelicals also acknowledge that being a Democrat is not a monolith, and the same can be said of Republican faith based voters as well.
Why Words Matter
Many young voters believe our nation is at a critical inflection point with respect to its own cultural, political, and moral identity. It is so critically important for voters to be informed and this becomes harder when disinformation, inaccurate, and or hateful language or messages are used.
History has its Eyes on You
Many young voters are both more optimistic and worried today about America than at any other time in their life. Jacinda Ardern who became the youngest female head of government in the world as Prime Minister of New Zealand said, “Elections aren’t always great at bringing people together, but they also don’t need to tear one another apart.” Words matter and leadership matters. To “Make or Keep America Great Again,” fails to underscore the truth that it is the diversity of cultural identities that define America and young voters are a fundamental part of that reality.
Special thanks to Lorena James, Cole Walker, and Lin Kai Ye for taking the time to be interviewed for this article and for submitting pictures.