Imagine stepping into a voting booth as a young and newly registered voter. You’re excited to cast your ballot. Now imagine seeing that most of the candidates on that ballot are triple—or even quadruple—your age.
This is a reality that many young people face as American democracy changes day-by-day. It is important that Generation Z hit the polls as soon as they are able to. The generation gap in American politics is only increasing by the years. Politicians such as Joe Biden and Greg Abbott who are 80 and 65 respectively are currently in office. This is a sign that the younger generation needs to realize their political power – and the rest of the country has to provide enough resources to help them.
According to Time News, Gen Zers are the most diverse generation in American history. Baby boomers have only 18% non-white people, whereas Gen Z comprises 48% people of color.
With 70 million young Americans born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z is only growing. Since 2018, they have flourished into becoming more politically engaged on a variety of issues, ranging from gun control to racial justice.
Due to this, Gen Zers are able to have a say in problems that they are passionate about. When people are strong-hearted about things that they care about, change can happen. Not so long ago, in the 2020 election President Joe Biden thanked the younger generation for turning out historic numbers that helped him get elected—but even Biden himself has reached far past retirement age.
It is true that we, as the young generation, are inclined to be more fervent in our opinions, but it’s also true that many of us don’t know the proper way to register to vote.
John Della Volpe, the director of polling at The Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute Of Politics said to the Harvard Gazette that often people take for granted that younger people are every bit equipped to cast a ballot just as their elders were.
There is a collective mutual responsibility when it comes to voting, people need to know what goes on in politics and what goes on behind the scenes. There should be a community-wide change to spark more interest in civic duties, and more help should be given to the young community to create this.
According to a survey conducted by Tufts College, 16% of Gen Zers said they did not register to vote because they did not know how or had trouble with their application.
When young people are new to elections, they don’t often have enough information and support, and are also unlikely to receive it from campaigns that focus on past voters.
As stereotypes on our generation flourish and state that we don’t ‘’care enough’’ to have a say in political decisions, Tufts study continues to showcase that Gen Z believes that voting is a way to have a say for America’s future.
No matter what difficulties our country is facing even today, America is stronger when united. Voting is a civic duty given by our founding fathers and at a time where social issues and uprisings are becoming more frequent, we as the younger generation need more resources to make sure our voice is heard.
Resources to become a newly registered voter in Texas:
