When election day rolls around, older people usually turn out at higher rates than folks in their twenties. This trend is nothing new, but why is it the case?
KNX News’ Chris Sedens spoke to Democratic strategist Jesse Whistler, who said several factors discourage young adults from going to the polls – and this time around, the idea of a Biden-Trump rematch is one of the biggies.
“I think a lot of us were hoping at the last minute, you know, the entire system might change,” she said. “The biggest comments I'm hearing are about the two candidates’ ages. But yeah, I would say a lot of people in my generation are a bit discouraged because they might be a little untrusting of these two options.”
Whistler said Gen Z is a bit different from other generations of young voters because of the prominent role social media plays in their political engagement.
“Not only do we have greater access to understanding the injustices and the issues that we're seeing, but we're also just generally victim to algorithms which are prone to content that might discourage us, or you know, encourage us to get more involved, really, depending on what you're seeing,” she said.
She said social media might still invigorate young people to go out and vote in November, “even if it’s not the candidate they initially hoped for.”
Whistler said that despite some discouragement about the current election cycle, plenty of younger voters are eager to get involved in politics and make a positive change.
“A lot of politicians, they have an idea that they need to be somewhat fluent in social media, but they might not focus on actually harnessing community involvement and support from young voters in their area, and really that’s where we're eager to get involved,” she said.
She said campaigns should focus on making themselves accessible through hiring younger voters for canvassing or volunteer opportunities.
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