Gen-Z has become a surprising electoral force

Published September 19, 2023 at 7:00 AM EDT

An American flag waves in the breeze next to a sign directing Ohioans to vote. — An American flag waves in the breeze next to a sign directing Ohioans to vote inside Tharp Sixth Grade School, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023 in Hilliard, Ohio. It’s the final day that Ohio citizens can vote in a GOP-rushed special election on whether to make the state constitution harder to amend, likely having direct impact on abortion rights in the state

This episode originally aired on Sept. 13, 2023.

Since the 2020 presidential election, citing concerns over election fraud, many states including Ohio have worked to pass more restrictive Voter ID laws and young voters have been impacted by these efforts.

Record numbers of young voters turned up to the polls in 2018 and 2022, emerging as a crucial voting bloc for Democrats, and a threat to Republicans.

An age group once viewed as detached from politics, Gen-Z is defying the odds and turning up to polls at a higher rate than previous generations did in their early voting years.

Now there are efforts to ban student ID cards as a form of voter identification, attempts to stop out-of-state students from voting in their campus towns and more.

We take a look at why and how Gen-Z has become a surprising electoral force.

Host:

Amy Juravich, 89.7 NPR News Midday Host and assistant program director

Guests:

Kayla Griffin, Ohio director of All Voting is Local
David Faris, author of "The Kids are all Left"

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