Kaitlyn Potts
Carolina Journal
More than forty million members of Generation Z, about twice the population of New York, will be eligible to vote in the 2024 election nationwide. According to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), 8.3 million newly eligible young people will be able to vote just since the 2022 midterm election.
“These young people have tremendous potential to influence elections and to spur action on issues they care about – if they are adequately reached and supported by parties, campaigns and organizations.” says CIRCLE, which reports that this generation has higher rates of voting than previous generations did when they were within the same age range of young adulthood.
Cygnal, a marketing research company that specializes in polling and analytics, collected data for Carolina Journal about the voting methods of North Carolina’s population, including the voting data of those between the ages of 18-34, who are widely considered young adults. It is important to note that those between the ages of 18 through 27 are Generation Z, while 28-34 are Millennials, according to Beresford Research.
Top issues
In the most recent data, 62% of people in the age range of 18-34 plan on voting. Young women are more likely to vote than young men, as 66% of females plan on voting, while only 58% of males do. Top issues also differ. The data shows that the top issue for women in this age demographic is abortion at 51%, while 52% of young men say the top issue for them is inflation.
“We see young men more concerned with economic issues like inflation and jobs while young women are concerned with both inflation and abortion,” said Brock McCleary, vice president of Cygnal. “As voters continue to struggle with rising inflation, it is clear that this issue will be a driving factor on election day.”
Young adult women are also more likely to vote for Kamala Harris than Trump. More than half of them (53%) stated that they are going to vote for the Democrat pick for president, with only 33% of them saying they will vote for former president Donald Trump. Young adult men are the opposite, leaning toward Trump over Harris with 50% of the men in this age category saying they are going to vote for the Republican candidate and 38% of them stating they will vote for the Democratic candidate.
When it comes to partisan affiliation, significantly more young Republicans plan on voting than young Democrats. According to the survey data provided by Cygnal, 77% of young Republicans are planning to vote in this upcoming election while only 59% of young Democrats are going to cast their ballot.
Voting method
For 2024, 44% of respondents within the age range of 18-34, say they will vote in person on Election Day, while 47% of them said they plan to vote early in person. This early voting trend is also increasing for Republicans in general, as Democrats have already adopted early voting habits in previous elections. For 2024, 52% of Republicans plan to vote in-person on Election Day, while just 30% of Democrats plan to wait. For young Republicans, 54% also plan to vote in-person on Election Day, with only 38% of young Democrats planning to wait.
North Carolinians can confirm their voter registration, districts, and official polling place using the North Carolina State Board of Election website.
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