Historically, young voters (aged 18-24) have had a lower voter turnout than any other age group in the U.S. According to statista.com, young voter turnout hasn’t surpassed 50 percent since 1972. However, recently it’s been on the rise as turnout reached 48 percent during the 2020 election–the highest young voter turnout had been in nearly 50 years.
In this coming election, getting young voters to the polls continues to be a persisting strategy from both major candidates. According to NPR, Kamala Harris’ campaign has invested millions of dollars in campaigning toward young voters, including college students, hoping to reach 150 campuses across 11 states. This included doubling Harris’ youth organizing staff and running various ads on social media, school newspapers and college websites. The Harris campaign has also continuously used their Kamala HQ account on many social media platforms in an attempt to connect with youth with various memes taking digs at former President Donald Trump.
The Trump campaign has also been vigilant in connecting with young voters. Trump has a prominent TikTok account and has had interviews with many popular content creators including Logan Paul and Adin Ross in an attempt to talk about his main campaigning goals while reaching a completely different audience than he would get on a traditional news show.
It can be said that reaching young voters is more important for the Democratic party because young voters have historically favored them. According to a Tuft’s CIRCLE poll ahead of the 2024 election, out of the 57 percent of youth saying they were “extremely likely” to vote, 51 per- cent of voters supported Democrats while 30 percent supported Republicans. Many have said that Harris’ greatest challenge in the upcoming election is getting people off the couch and to the polls, a significant portion of which includes the youth population.
However, many of the events leading up to the election have instilled worry in young voters, as seen in a survey sent out by X-Ray staff about senior students’ opinions for the upcoming election. It is important to consider that those with strong political opinions were the most likely to respond to said survey.
Student responses when asked about their feelings towards the 2024 election included “Angry,” “A little overwhelmed and hopeless,” “A little scared of the outcome of the election,” and “…as though we are devolving.”
Comments about the state of today’s political system in the U.S. were similarly downcast. “I think it has a lot of issues. The parties and people supporting them are very polarized, and I feel people have begun to fight over parties rather than policies,” said an anonymous student. “It seems to have become a bit of a game, which is dangerous considering the future of the US and its citizens are at stake.”
“Our political climate has gotten much more divisive than it used to be, even less than 20 years ago,” said another anonymous student. “Long gone are the days of politeness and respect between many political opponents, especially between the two major candidates, where mutual respect […] has been replaced by constant insults and falsehoods being thrown at opponents.”
However, something all students were able to agree on was the importance of voting. “If you don’t [vote], you’re wasting your rights as a citizen in this country, and the very idea of the republic is wasted on you,” said an anonymous student. “Those who do not exercise their right to vote have no excuse to complain about the status of our country.”
Nov. 5, 2024, is General Election Day in the U.S., which means that schools will be closed to give everybody ample opportunity to vote. If you can, use this time to vote and your voice be heard; everybody’s vote is important.
