By Samuel Lam & Kyle Chan, Staff Writers
The midterm elections are a pivotal and crucial moment in deciding the future of the United State’s political scene; with this most recent one being arguably the most critical of all. In this latest midterm election, all 435 seats of the House of Representatives and 34 out of 100 seats of the Senate are up for grabs. With many authors and speculators predicting that this election would be “the inflation election” or the “red wave”, the outcome already seemed set. However, this wave never hit the shore, as election night turned out to be more competitive than they thought. Due to this, future voting and elections are looking quite hopeful. This is due to the historic turnout of 27% of Gen Z voters, emphasizing their importance.
However, many critics of the importance of Gen Z’s role in voting say that this generation isn’t any different. It’s just another group of people coming into the voting system that will align with their political party. However, this isn’t the case. As referenced, the Red Republican wave never came to fruition. According to The Washington Post, over half of the voters under the age of 30, mostly Gen Z, voted for democrats, combating this “red wave”. We believe that this is due to Gen Z showing allegiance to issues rather than specific political parties and candidates. With the widespread use of social media, many global issues such as climate change, gun violence, reproductive rights, racial justice, and LGBTQ rights are in the palms of everyone’s hands. Personally, we have seen the effects of widespread informational platforms as many in our own school have become more active in advocating for these issues. Another point of interest in Gen Z’s importance is the unprecedented racial shift. In the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Sara Guillemero, CEO of the nation’s largest young women’s political leadership group, IGNITE, says, “49 percent of them will be young people of color. In the same article it states, Gen Z is also very queer: 30 percent identify as other than heterosexual, compared to only 5 percent of boomers who say similar”. This brings about a more diverse view on several topics of issues. Overall, the introduction of Gen Z into the voting “circle” causes the need for reevaluation of many political parties as they try to garner votes, especially when it comes to major world problems.
Through the use of social media, we are prone to see and hear the news in a faster spread. Being born in a time of technology gives us the ability to have political engagement through online news. As our next generation’s leaders, being brought to present-day issues at a young age will be beneficial as it opens up new problem-solving opportunities. With a better understanding of technology, Gen Z is able to spread and communicate in faster ways to spread awareness to various non-profit organizations. For example, according to Forbes, “many Gen Zers checked in to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation page on Facebook, to raise awareness to the tribe fighting against the implementation of the Dakota Access Pipeline”. Although social media can be accessed to find information and important news, it can also be used to promote.
It is important to vote because each vote counted contributes to the combat of modern world problems our society faces today. By voting for the right candidate you spread awareness of the issues we face currently. This can be seen during this year’s election with the competition between Republicans and Democrats with the help of the Gen Z wave of votes. This illustrates how important and beneficial each vote is, especially for the younger generation.
