How could Gen Z impact the 2020 election
The 2020 Presidential Election is expected to have one of the highest voter turnout rates we've seen in modern times but how much is projected to be from Generation Z, those who were born between 1997 and 2012.
"Right now, we're expecting there to be anywhere between 13 and 15 million new Gen Z voters in this electorate. This is one of the most influential times for young people that we've seen in modern history," said Dr. Lovell, "There is a significant young vote out there to get."
But why are the younger generations of voters so eager to get out and vote, Dr. Lovell believes it to be caused by the way they were raised.
"These are people that are being socially, introduced to social issues, at a much younger age than the generations before them," said Dr. Lovell, "The context of what they've experienced is different than what even Millennials, which is the generation before them, experienced. So, they are a group that is not only large in numbers but are socially charged."
And with the generations growing up in an age of protests, social justice movements and pandemic outbreaks, experts think that this could sway their vote to a particular side.
"Gen Z, and Millennials to a lesser degree, but especially Gen Z definitely lean more not just to the liberal side but even to the progressive or far left side," said Dr. Macaulay, "And that is a very big difference between them and the generations older than them."
And since Gen Z is projected to come out in the millions both voting in person and voting by mail, could that possibly slow down the election results? Dr. Macaulay thinks it will.
"Combined with the higher turnout, this may be kind of a chaotic election in terms of counting the votes, because we may not know who the winner is on election night," said Dr. Macaulay, "It may take a week, hopefully not more, but potentially more for them to count all the votes. It just kind of, it depends on how close the election is."
