Generation Z Believes...

Youngest generation adapts unique voting preferences

Story by Isabella Navarro // Design by Elsa Pedrosa Noguera

Freshman Katie Polansky shares her views with a “Biden 2020” sign. She hand made her sign earlier that day to reflect her favorite candidate. Photo by Isabella Navarro

Generation Z witnessed a dramatic year, with a pandemic, protests for racial injustice, a recession and a controversial presidential campaign - all of which reportedly shaped this generation’s view of the world.

Gen Z, defined as people born between 1996 and 2012, now sees the pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement as the two most impactful events of their life, according to global data intelligence company, The Morning Consult. And, with a percentage of Gen Z now eligible to vote, the generation can voice these opinions at the polls this year.

Since the primary elections, former Vice President Joe Biden increased his votes by 65 percent among voters in this category, 26 BAGPIPE according to The Morning Consult. Biden did this through his beliefs on social injustice, abortion, equal pay and educational issues, which appeals to the Gen Z base. “I think you’re seeing the Democrats focus more on the younger generation,” said Marco Lowe, a political science professor at Seattle University. “They are typically a more progressive voting block. Having the president attempt to ban Tik Tok in America is not something I would do to catch young voters.”

In fact, Tik Tok played a large role in the upcoming election and in shaping Gen Z’s political views. Tik Tok user Colten Hess recently created “Tok the Vote,” a voting filter to urge young voters to vote for this year’s election on Tik Tok.

“Platforms like Tik Tok are more accessible and have educated more of Gen Z to vote and learn more about the topics,” freshman Zoe McGee said. “You can base your voting off of opinions and other peoples experiences.”

Instagram also contributes to encouraging more Gen Z voters by having a small notification on the top of personal feeds encouraging everyone to vote.

“I’ll go on Instagram and see a reminder to vote and different political stuff from different campaigns that they’re trying

to get you to support,” freshman Reese Denison said.

Denison said she notices that her peers in Gen Z tend to have more liberal leaning opinions on social media.

“People post on social media, and when people see that, they might be tugged to the left, especially if it’s emotional,” she said.

The numbers support Denison’s observation, with 52 percent of Gen Z voters having favorable opinions about Biden for this election, according to statistics by reporter Eli Yokley.

Part of that has to do with the Black Lives Matter movement. Members of Gen Z shared their views on racial injustice by spreading posts and attending protests throughout the past few months. With protests sparking since June, of the eligible Gen Z voting block, 53 percent said the protests have made them more likely to vote for Biden, and only 13 percent said they’re more likely to vote for Trump, according to Morning Consult.

“Gen Z’s biggest imprint is making changes for the world,” Cali said. “Social justice has to be made if we want to all be free and equal because of desensitization to violence.”

McGee agreed.

“Gen Z is more progressive and accepting of different generations,” she said. “The older generations are more old fashioned.”

William H. Frey, Senior Fellow at Metropolitan Policy Program, stated that Gen Z equates to 50.7 percent of the nation’s population. While not all of Gen Z is eligible to vote in 2020, as this generation gets older, there’s a strong chance their shared beliefs will eventually alter American politics.

“I think Gen Z is the most educated generation in history,” Cali said. “And we should all agree about social issues, not government issues.”