How politicians and Gen Z can break the cycle of low youth voter turnout

Forty-one million members of Gen Z will be eligible to vote in this year’s presidential general election, including eight million youths who have aged into the electorate since the 2022 midterms. When combined with the millennial generation that immediately preceded them, voters born in the age of ubiquitous personal computing, high-speed internet and social media will soon become the dominant power in American politics.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, millennials and Gen Zers already represent 48% of the eligible voting electorate. By the time we go to the polls for the 2028 presidential election, they’ll have become the majority, representing 54% of eligible voters in the United States.

Yet being eligible to vote is irrelevant if they don’t actually show up and exercise their power.

That’s why the work of schools like Shadow Ridge High School and their social studies teacher and football coach, Matthew Nighswonger, is so important. As the Sun’s Kyle Chouinard reported this week, Nighswonger and Shadow Ridge have been quietly championing voter registration among the school’s seniors for nearly a decade.

Nighswonger’s leadership, the support of school staff and administrators, and the enthusiastic participation of students should be lauded for helping to address the underrepresentation of young people within the electorate.

While 2018 and 2020 saw record turnout among eligible voters aged 18-29, with 28% participating in the 2018 midterms and nearly 50% participating in the 2020 presidential election, those numbers don’t come close to the approximately 60% of voters older than 45 and approximately 70% of voters older than 65 who consistently vote in midterm and presidential elections.

Here in Nevada, of the more than 200,000 eligible Gen Z voters, only 24.5% cast a ballot in the 2022 election, according to Amy Koo, political director of One Asian Pacific Islander Americans Nevada. Compare this with the 66% turnout rate among voters aged 65 and older in the Silver State and it’s clear that a vast segment of the youth voice is being lost in our democracy.

It’s easy to assume the lower turnout among younger voters might be apathy. But data collected by University of California, Berkeley, researchers found that millennials and Gen Zers are both highly engaged and generally knowledgeable about issues of national politics. However, these younger generations are far more likely to share a belief that current government systems are incapable of addressing critical challenges, including economic inequality, climate change, gun control, educational backsliding and the future preservation of democracy. In other words, it’s not really apathy, but rather some alchemy of despair about our leaders mixed with a form of cynicism about the process.

As Koo pointed out, politicians rarely focus on the needs of younger voters because they don’t see them as a significant voting bloc. This becomes a self-perpetuating cycle: Young voters feel neglected, so they don’t vote. And because they don’t vote, politicians continue to ignore them.

That’s why the efforts of Nighswonger and Shadow Ridge are so remarkable. By inviting speakers and organizations to discuss the importance of voter registration and creating intentional opportunities for peer-to-peer discussions of the importance of voting and its impact on issues that matter to them, Shadow Ridge isn’t just registering young voters; it is empowering them and generating excitement about participating in democracy.

Politicians hoping to win the support of younger voters and motivate them to complete a ballot must respond to that excitement by paying greater attention to the issues that affect younger voters, creating intentional opportunities for younger people to be heard and taking their issues and their perspectives seriously. This starts with taking the initiative to carve out time, create space and actively invite younger people into conversation about the issues that matter to them.

Younger voters can reward that engagement and hold elected officials accountable by voting for candidates who listen and are responsive to their needs, while recognizing that democracy often requires compromise to meet the needs of a diverse electorate.

For far too long, too many elected officials and other societal leaders have dismissed the issues, experiences and perspectives of younger generations. But by listening to young people and taking them seriously, we can be more responsive to their needs, help inspire them to be more active voters and help create a brighter future for everyone.

Nighswonger’s efforts at Shadow Ridge show that sustained engagement can lead to tangible results. In three of the past four election cycles, more than 85% of the school’s eligible seniors have registered to vote. Only five other high schools in Nevada have achieved the 85% mark and none of them have done it more than twice.

Shadow Ridge isn’t just setting a standard for other high schools in Nevada — it’s setting an example for society. It’s showing all of us that communities that engage young people, create intentional opportunities for dialogue and listen to them in earnest can inspire younger generations to create a better future. After all, young people’s voices must be heard on today’s issues because the world we’re creating together is the world in which they must live.