Why Gen Z’s vote matters in 2024

In the 2020 presidential election, the youth vote was at a record high. In 2024, with a rematch looming, a repeat doesn’t seem likely. 

 A poll from the Harvard Kennedy School suggests Gen Z may be less likely to vote in 2024. Only 49% of under-30 voters “definitely” planned to cast a ballot, down from the 54% of young Americans under 30 who voted in 2020.

But elections experts say that Generation Z can play a crucial role in deciding the November vote. Nearly 41 million Gen Zers can help elect a president this year, including 8 million who will be able to vote for the first time, according to data from Tufts’ Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement CIRCLE.

“Their vote does matter, not just for president, but even for president it matters,” said Margaret Susan Thompson, an associate professor of political science and history at Syracuse University. “And even if you live in a state that seems clearly one, red or blue, it may not be. But, not every election is going to be that kind of exciting election. But it’s still important. It does make a difference.”  

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, states now make laws about abortion. This issue brought many voters out for the mid-term elections, where voter turnout for Gen Z was higher in their first midterm than in other generations. Abortion is a top issue to Gen Z, according to CIRCLE, a finding that did not surprise Thompson. 

“They’re the ones who are more likely to need the kinds of health services that are threatened or that have already been threatened in various parts of the country,” she said. “So for purely self-interested reasons, I think there are reasons to vote.” 

Issues that matter

Gen Z is outspoken about issues that matter to them, including social justice and reproductive rights, said Jessica Ronan-Frisch, the program manager at Rutgers University’s Center for Youth Political Participation. 

“Young adults, especially Gen Z, they’ve really seen protesting and contacting their elected officials and advocating with their elected officials as a way to make a change,” she said.

Frequent topics in national elections like Social Security or Medicare may not resonate with younger voters, Ronan-Frisch acknowledged. The people who come out to vote tend to control the issues conversations during campaigns. 

“The more young people that vote, there will be a greater shift in what the priorities are,” she said. 

And the more young people vote, the more likely they are to see a candidate who thinks like they do when it comes to making policies. 

“This generation specifically is the most diverse, the most educated,” Ronan-Frisch said. “And they also have the most experience. Politics vary directly in their lives, and I think the more that they turn out, the more and more diverse that our electorate can look like and they can look like them and speak to their needs and their values as well.”