The 2022 midterm elections mark a significant moment in history as Gen Z candidates are officially on the ballot. The midterm election ballots, across the country, will determine leaders at a state and local level. We saw that Gen Z showed up in recording breaking numbers at polling stations during the 2020 election. However, will this trend continue with midterm elections right around the corner? The answer is YES!
Why Vote?
Gen Z has shown to be passionate regarding issues like: abortion, mental health, climate change, civil rights, student debt, and mass shootings. Generation Z activists have recently become more vocal over these key issues however politicians have continued to ignore us. This is due to a lower voter turnout for younger voters. This vicious cycle of politicians ignoring our needs can all be dismantled by younger voters showing up to the polls in historically high numbers. As a generation, we have directly been impacted by politicians and their ability to ignore the repetitive occurrence of school shootings. We have traumatically experienced sitting under our desks for hours as our school attempted to prepare us for school shooting situations. However, certain politicians continue to block stricter background check legislation because they do not believe that Gen Z has the ability to come together and vote them out of office. Your voice and your vote have the ability to determine if elected politicians will actually represent their constituents and their beliefs.
Example: President Biden
We saw during the 2020 election that President Biden pleaded with Gen Z to vote Blue, in an effort to unify our political divided country. After President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, they quickly learned that younger voters were going to hold them accountable. The President understood that he needed to deliver on his campaign promises if he wanted our vote for the upcoming Midterm elections. As a result, Biden and the Democrats have created a student-debt forgiveness plan, introduced mental health legislation, created gun reform bills, and passed the Inflation Reduction Act to combat the climate crisis. More recently, the Biden Harris administration revealed that they will be pardoning all offenses from simple marijuana possessions. This is all a positive outcome that was implemented by Gen Z voting and holding their elected officials accountable.
Voting Deadlines & Information
- Florida
- Election Day: November 8th
- All voters in the state of Florida are eligible to request a vote by mail ballot. The last day to request a mail-in-ballot in Florida is October 29.
- Gubernatorial Election: Charlie Crist! vs. Ron Desantis (incumbent)
- Senate: Val Demings! vs Marco Rubio (incumbent)
- Texas
- Election Day: November 8th
- Gubernatorial Election: Beto O’Rourke! vs. Greg Abott (incumbent)
- Arizona
- Election day: November 8th
- All voters are eligible to vote-by-mail.
- Pennsylvania
- Election day: November 8th
- Voters are Eligible to vote-by-mail
- Senate: Fetterman! vs. Oz
- Georgia
- Election day: November 8th
- Gubernatorial: Stacey Abrams! vs. Brian Kemp (incumbent)
- Senate: Raphael Warnock! (incumbent) vs Herschel Walker
More information on voting resources and information, depending on your state, can be found on Voting Resources – Student Vote.
Who should I vote for and what issues are on the ballot?
Reproductive rights, LGBTQ + rights, voting rights, the 1st amendment, and upholding democracy will all be on the ballot this year. If you are conflicted on who to vote for, I would recommend picking some topics that you are passionate about and then researching the stance and agenda each candidate has for those topics.
The results that come from elections impact every member of our society. However, certain underprivileged groups face a disproportionate number of negative consequences when it comes to oppressive policies. Remember to vote for the wellbeing of our country and with the goal of ensuring that all community members are equally accounted for.