Teenagers at Nashua North High School aren’t inspired to vote in 2024

Teenagers at Nashua North High School aren’t inspired to vote in 2024

by Sean Crucio

The 2024 presidential election nears and young voters will soon have to decide. Will they go to the polls, or will they stay home?

The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) found that by November 2024, Gen-Z will make up 40 million potential voters. Eight million of whom had just reached voting age.

Both candidates must grab as many young voters as possible, especially considering the closeness of this particular election cycle. However, like many in the US, teens need more content with the options this November.

Sophia Scribner, North senior, believes the candidates are the reason teens will stay home during the election.

"Honestly, I’m not optimistic about [teenager turnout], because of the two candidates we have. I feel at this point, it’s kind of bad or worse." Scribner continues, "I don’t think that’s inspiring a lot of people to go, especially teenagers who this may be their first time."

Jack Markley, another senior at North, believes there were better options during the primaries, "I feel like in my eyes, there are a lot more candidates other than [Trump] I would have voted for."

The country's consensus is that this election is a choice between the lesser of two evils. Even more so as both have held office as President of the United States before.

Trump and Biden are over 70 years old, past the senior citizen mark. Markley expressed, "I think if you get to the point that you’re that old, you shouldn’t have the most important job in the country."

Younger candidates were on the ballot this primary season. CIRCLE studied the demographics of the NH primary, and only 16% of the youth population got out to vote. Of those that did, however, most voted for Trump.

By this time, most Republican candidates dropped out. Had all stayed in the race, the turnout might have been higher.