“Generation Z” has a voice, but will they also vote? 

By Salimah McCullough | Published by February 23, 2020 

From the Democratic debates to the impeachment hearings, the world is in a very political place right now. In America, the voting age starts at 18, and a big question in the current Democratic primaries is: is Generation Z going to come out to vote?  

Generation Z consists of people who were born roughly from 1995 through 2009 — meaning a lot of new people of voting age. They are known as the most diverse generation in U.S. history, according to a Pew Research Center report and are speaking up more about making a change in the world.   

 Growing up with the internet and social media, they are the most technologically advanced generation. Members of Gen Z are more conscious of issues such as racism and sexism than their older counterparts and are believed to be more politically conscious as a result.  These are all some of the traits used to define members of Gen Z, according to Pew Research Center Social and Demographic trends 

 Some of the biggest activists today are people under the age of 20 who are members of Gen Z. In the last three years, there have been many important political happenings in this country where younger people took a stand.   

Emma Gonzalez, Naomi Wadler, and Yolanda King are a few of the young people who spoke at the March for Our Lives that took place in early 2018 following the Parkland shooting; Greta Thunberg gave a speech about climate change at the UN Climate Change Summit; Marley Diaz speaks about diverse representation while donating books that include diversity.   

Based on social media posts, Generation Z seems to be more aware of the issues happening in the country and they seem more willing to be involved in fixing them. During the midterm elections of 2018, there were more voters from Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X combined than there were voters roughly over age 65, according to a Pew Research analysis that contains Census Bureau data.  

A survey done by Chegg, an education technology company shows that for the 2020 presidential election, young people will represent a higher expected turnout than the 2016 election. The 2019 State of the Student survey says that 80 percent of college students are expected to vote during this year’s presidential election compared to the 45 percent of students who voted in 2016, according to a 2012- 2016 report from The National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement.    

Additionally, according to a survey done by The Higher Education Research Institute in 2015, college freshmen have shown patterns of being more politically engaged than previous decades of college freshmen.   

“Younger people care more about voting because the results will impact our lives more and it’s important to us, especially about environmental issues because this is the planet we will live on for many years,” Kean accounting student Briana Daquino said.  

Climate change is one of Generation Z’s biggest issues. According to Forbes Magazines, a study done by The New Future of Humanity showed that 41 percent of people between the ages of 18 to 25 across 22 countries “cited global warming as the most important issue facing the world.”   

“Environmental issues are so important because they affect each and every one of us,” Daquino said. “We used to say it wasn’t going to affect the world for hundreds of years but it’s happening now. It’s going to affect our lives and our children’s lives.”     

When it comes to voting it is a trend that Gen Z will most likely vote for people who look and sound like them, according to Denver South. As the most diverse generation in American history, Gen Z is more understanding and inclusive and has a different set of values than older generations. They often express positive feelings towards ethnic diversity and the LGBTQ community. Some 75 percent say they support same-sex marriage and 56 percent say they know someone personally who goes by gender-neutral pronouns.  

Kiani Bowles, 21, says she believes her civic participation matters and exercising her right to vote helps her voice to be heard.  

“I look forward to voting in this next election,” Bowles said. “I want to vote because I care about the outcome and how it will affect my future.”    

Generation Z, for the most part, isn’t of age to vote just yet. But according to the analysis by  Pew Research, their voting patterns already show change. Time will only tell if the predictions that this generation will be one of the biggest, age groups voting in the next election. 

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