This election year, young voters are surging and the turnout could play a huge role in the 2020 election. 

According to the Pew Research Center, Generation Z is the most racially and ethnically diverse group than any other previous generation and they make up 10% of eligible voters in the 2020 presidential election. Most Gen Zers have progressive and pro-government views, and they see the country’s growing racial and ethnic diversity as a good thing.

As of October 29th, more than 6 million voters aged 18-29 have already voted as compared to 2 million at the same time in the 2016 election. 

Totino-Grace will have several first-time voting seniors.

Devin Burger, TG senior, said, “I’m planning on voting this election because we are at a point where the fate of our democracy and its inhabitants relies on our current president being removed from office.” 

He later went on to say, “Joe Biden is far far from my ideal candidate, but he represents a small step in the right direction. I’m also deciding not to vote the third party to a candidate that may represent my views better because our situation is so dire that we need to remove our current president.”

With all the chaos that has happened recently under our current president, people are fed up and believe it is time for a change. There are large numbers of people that don’t vote for a variety of reasons.

Joshua Abedu-Bentsi, another Totino-Grace senior believes “So many people choose to not vote because they don’t believe their vote will make a difference, but in reality, numbers add up so greatly and can change the outcome.”

Social media plays a huge role in reaching out to young voters. People trying to reach the younger generation of voters are doing so through various social media platforms ranging from Snapchat and Twitter to Tiktok.

“I have seen plenty of posts on social media telling me to vote on every single platform that I use. I think it is important for young people to vote because we represent a large portion of the country, and most of us lean away from the status quo,” Burger said.

Senior Lola English commented, “As much as young people feel like their vote doesn’t change anything it really does make a difference especially this year. It also allows young people’s voices to be heard, our opinions matter too.”

Young voters are fired up and more involved than ever before, and senior Ellie Foht believes they have a strong chance of swaying the election.

“I think it is very important for young people to vote because the younger generations have completely different views on the world than the older generations do and their votes could totally sway the election one way or another.”

According to the Harvard Youth Poll released earlier this week, there is a significant increase in Joe Biden’s favorability with voters under the age of 30.

A majority of Generation Z are supporting Biden over Trump more than any other age group.  “I think because a majority of us have the same views, it will make a huge impact,” said English.

Overall, no one knows exactly how this election will play out but Gen Z is very optimistic.

Editor’s note: When this article was published on Nov. 10, the AP called the election for Joe Biden. President Trump is contesting the results and mounting a legal challenge.