It's Election Day 🗳🇺🇸
What I heard at the polls this morning, early youth vote numbers, and a note of thanks.
The day we’ve all been waiting for is finally here, and I don’t know about you but I absolutely love seeing people walking around in their ‘I voted’ stickers.
I’m still in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and I spent this morning at two polling locations in the city, including one on the campus of The University of Pennsylvania. Once again, literally every young woman I spoke to mentioned women’s rights and abortion access as what motivated them to vote.
“I'm passionate about her, not just because I'm against the other side,” a 19-year-old first time voter at Penn told me this morning, adding she was “happy to vote” for Vice President Kamala Harris. She said human rights, abortion rights, and autonomy are top of mind.
More so than in past days, young men at the polls said abortion was an issue that pushed them to vote, too. I saw quite a few men voting with their girlfriends. Other issues that were top of mind for the people I spoke with were the economy, the climate, and democracy.
For the past few months, I’ve wondered if “democracy” messaging was resonating with young people. It hadn’t been coming up so much in listening sessions or in 1:1 conversations. But in the past few days — including during a national listening session I held with young people on Sunday night — the topic has been salient. As election day grew closer, and as young people went to fill out their ballots, they said they were thinking about what a democracy really means and looks like. Some mentioned January 6, 2021 and said they don’t want a repeat.
☀️ Also this morning, the amazing Gen Z trends and culture guru featured a Q&A with me in her newsletter, After School. If you aren’t subscribed yet, definitely do! And take a look at our chat.
Early voting numbers look strong among young women
As data trickles in, early vote numbers in Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Georgia show strength from young voters, which is a good sign for Harris, given that young voters typically lean left and have supported Harris over former President Donald Trump by roughly 20 points in recent polls of young people. Even more so, early vote expert and senior advisor to TargetSmart Tom Bonier told me: “There’s higher turnout from young voters of color, and especially young women of color.”
I wrote about what we’re seeing from young voters and youth-focused organizers for Teen Vogue. You can read the full story here.
In short:
Early vote turnout picked up among 18-29-year-olds in Dane County, Wisconsin after Harris held a rally there with Remi Wolf and Gracie Abrams last Wednesday night. Young voters made up 19% of early votes cast in the state’s fastest-growing county last week and reached 22% Thursday and Friday, according to TargetSmart’s data.
In North Carolina, the Triangle, Triad, and Charlotte regions saw the highest early vote turnout in the state, with new registered Democratic voters outpacing newly registered Republican voters.
In Georgia, the youth share (ages 18-29) of individuals who had cast their ballots in person was 25%, when the state’s early voting period ended, per TargetSmart. That number is on pace with 2020, according to the firm.
So what’s behind some of this early vote surge?
“I think it’s a broader cultural shift in habit that Gen Z has developed,” David Hogg, co-founder of Leaders We Deserve, which supports young progressives running for Congress and state legislatures, as well as March for Our Lives, told me. “We voted at the highest rates in the past three elections of any generation to come before us, and we voted very clearly in one direction,” said Hogg, who has campaigned for the Walz-Harris ticket, emphasizing research suggesting that voting is a habit.
Meanwhile Eve Levenson, the Harris-Walz campaign’s 24-year-old youth engagement director, told me: "In a race this close, young voters can absolutely be the difference. We're seeing great early numbers but this race is far from over, so if you haven't voted yet, please do. So much is at stake in this election for young people — our reproductive freedom, affordable housing, our climate, student loan relief, our very democracy.”
Some insights from yesterday
I spent most of yesterday at Penn and Drexel University, talking with as many young voters as possible. Generation Z is NOT a monolith, and there are a range of perspectives from young people even in a city that typically leans left like Philadelphia. Especially at Penn, students said they feel like there are different points of view on campus and they appreciate the opportunity to engage in productive dialogue with friends they disagree with. I even met a pair of 18-year-old young men at Penn who had conflicting view points and said they enjoy debating their political differences. The gender gap was top of mind for most of the students I spoke with, who said they see women championing left-leaning policies or getting involved in left-leaning politics more often than men.
Take a look/listen at some of what I heard.
Thank you
I’m feeling sentimental today and want to acknowledge my appreciation for your readership. I’m so grateful for everyone who has engaged with my writing here on The Up and Up, who has taken time to email or comment on social media, who has attended a listening session, and for the countless young Americans who have shared their stories and perspectives with me over the course of the past two + years. The truth is, we’re just getting started. But today, on Election Day, I felt compelled to let you know how thankful I am that you’re here. My work would not be possible without all of you.
Unprecedented youth vote outreach
This presidential election has been unprecedented for many reasons - one of which is the way both candidates have capitalized on social media to reach young voters. I joined KCAL News CBS Los Angeles this morning to chat with Rudabeh Shahbazi and Jamie Yuccas about how young voters are feeling today and my research with MTV on community college campuses. You can watch the full clip here or check out this snip-it below:
