Young voters have political power in Georgia. Will they vote? : NPR

Tuesday’s game meant a lot to the Atlanta Dream. The WNBA team had to beat the Chicago Sky to have a chance to make the playoffs.

Kayla Jones, a 22-year-old dancer from Dream’s Hype Squad, was there too, and as the crowd trickled into the arena, something caught her eye.

“I was dancing and I looked to my left and I thought, oh, there’s a polling station,” she said.

After Dream’s long-awaited win, Jones headed to Georgia. She’s originally from California but is a nursing student in Atlanta, and asked a poll organizer who was helping people register and verify their information if she could register in Georgia this year.

“I don’t think California needs my vote as much as Georgia does,” she told NPR.

Jones is supporting Vice President Harris this fall, and while the act of voting gives her a necessary voice, it can also be difficult.

“Especially as a Black woman in this world, sometimes when you say you’re not feeling well or you’re in pain, the doctor doesn’t listen. Or when you feel unsafe, the police officer doesn’t understand or care,” she explained. “So my vote was something I could say I voted, and this was my part to make sure I had a say in what goes on every day in society.”

Jones hasn’t yet decided whether she’ll end up voting in California or apply for a change of address to vote in Georgia. Either way, the nursing student and dancer is part of a powerful and growing group of voters: Gen Z and millennials (voters under age 43) are expected to make up nearly half of the population eligible to vote this fall.

But it’s unclear whether younger voters, who historically have not turned out in higher numbers than older generations, will turn out this year, especially in key battleground states like Georgia, which President Biden flipped by just half a percentage point in 2020, with voting beginning on Oct. 15.

Changing moods among young voters

Standing near the Dream Game registration table was Beth Link, executive director of When We All Vote, the nonpartisan group that organized the event.

“As we verify registrations, we are doing so with a commitment to follow up,” Link said. “This process does not end tonight.”

When We All Vote was founded by former First Lady Michelle Obama in 2018 and frequently collaborates with celebrities and national brands on voting efforts around the country.

“One of the things we pride ourselves on is getting young people registered to vote. We want to get that number as high as we can. And then we follow up with them afterwards and ask, ‘Have you made a plan to vote? How are you going to vote?'” she explained.

The group focuses on engaging young voters and voters of color, both of which are important to the Democratic Party’s base.

Voters under 30, particularly young Black, Latino and Asian American voters, overwhelmingly supported President Biden in 2020. This year, many were disappointed with the options ahead of a rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump.

But that may be changing: The week that Biden withdrew and Harris took over the Democratic nomination saw a notable increase in voter registration among young people, particularly young women and young women of color.

Tom Bonnier, a Democratic strategist at Target Smart, which recently released a state-by-state database detailing these new registrants, said that while it’s unclear who these new voters will support this fall, Bonnier argued that the surge is a clear indicator of young people’s enthusiasm for Harris.

“When someone actually takes the time and energy to go to the polls and register, that shows they’re actively participating,” he said. “When you see that concentrated among a particular group, that generally tells you that that group is much more actively participating.”

Many people have not yet registered

But recent registration gains haven’t yet offset dips early in the election season, and it’s unclear whether overall registration numbers will surpass or match 2020 numbers by Election Day.

“It’s fair to say that the decline in new voter registrations this year compared to four years ago has been greatest among younger voters,” Bonnier said. “The extent to which this gap can be closed remains to be seen, but I believe it can be closed.”

As of Sept. 5, more than 45,000 voters under the age of 30 had registered to vote in Georgia since late July, according to data collected by Target Smart from the Georgia Secretary of State.

But some people haven’t taken that step yet.

On Thursday afternoon, Gabriella Nicolosi, an 18-year-old student at Georgia State University, was sitting at an outdoor table in downtown Atlanta.

“I will definitely vote in this election,” she said, adding, “I also have to register, so I have to get registered.”

Protecting reproductive health care is top of her mind right now, and she said she was horrified to hear last month that a 28-year-old woman died at a suburban Atlanta hospital after not receiving a timely emergency abortion.

“This is inspiring a lot of girls in Atlanta,” Nicolosi said. “I think it’s scary for a lot of kids and girls my age because they don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

Nicolosi plans to support Harris this fall, but until recently he wasn’t sure if he would even vote.

“With Biden and Trump, I never felt inspired or seen or represented,” she said. “When Kamala[Harris]came along, I was like, oh, maybe that has something to do with me.”

While Nicolosi has made up her mind, some of her classmates are not.

“Especially now that I’m on my own, I’ve started researching more,” explains Julio Almanza, a 21-year-old student at Georgia State University. “Are Democrats really that bad this time around? Or is that just how I was raised?”

Almanza said she voted for Trump in 2020, in part because of veterans’ issues, as her mother served in the military. This time around, both sides are on the table and she’s interested in learning more about Harris.

“I think it would be nice to have a woman president,” he said. “I think she’s done a lot of political stuff, but I haven’t seen it yet. Maybe she thinks similarly to me.”