How are Voting Seniors Feeling this Election Season?

In the November 2024 election, Generation Z will make up one-fifth of the electorate. Forty point eight million members of the generation will be eligible to vote, including 8.3 million newly eligible voters who will have aged into the electorate since the 2022 midterm election. 

In fact, more than a quarter of Bush’s senior class will be able to vote. The 21 seniors eligible to vote this year were asked to complete an anonymous survey. Nearly three-quarters responded.

How high is election engagement among voting Bush seniors?

This year’s voting seniors are extremely attentive to election news. Everyone surveyed said they intended to vote, and almost 90% were already registered. 70% of respondents watched either or both of the June 2024 and September 2024 debates, with slightly more seniors tuning in for the September debate. When asked if they watched any or all of the party conventions this year, about a quarter of respondents said they kept up with the Republican National Convention, and 60% said they watched the Democratic National Convention. When asked how often they were paying attention to election news, on a scale from one to five (one being rarely, five being daily), the seniors had an average answer of around three point five.

Additionally, in Washington State, registered voters who will be 18 by the November 2024 election are eligible to vote in March and August primary elections. Only 21% of the respondents surveyed voted in the March primary election, but nearly 50% voted in the August primary election.

Where are voting seniors getting election information?

Besides debates and conventions, voting seniors primarily get their election information from family members, social media, and newspapers (digital or print). 

When asked to rank sources of information based on influence from one to seven (one being least influence, seven being most), 40% ranked social media or television news a six or a seven, and 47% ranked newspaper or family members a six or a seven.

Twice as many ranked Bush teachers and classes a one or a two as a six or a seven. 

When asked specifically about news sources, Instagram came up the most times with Tiktok in tow, and YouTube just behind that. Respondents mentioned the social media account ‘KamalaHQ’ as many times as the New York Times.

News sources like CNN, MSNBC, FOX, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post were mentioned, as well as public radio. 

For seniors who voted in the primary elections, 100% said they used the State Voter Guide for information, rather than third-party voter guides like The Stranger. 

What topics are most important to voting seniors?

When asked what topics they felt were most important this election season, reproductive rights came up for nearly 85% of respondents, the most predominant topic. Following abortion were economic and immigration issues, and then environmental and foreign policies. 

Overwhelmingly, voting seniors feel division in the United States. Some students are conflicted about what to think; one respondent wrote “could be better,” while another wrote “could be worse.”

Many feel anxious and scared, but hopeful, about the November 2024 election and “tentatively optimistic” about the future of the United States. Largely, respondents feel a pull between fear, confusion, and hope.

How high are the stakes of this election to voting seniors?

More than 90% of respondents gave a four or five out of five when asked how much of a difference they thought the November 2024 election would make for the United States. 80% of respondents gave a three or a four when asked how satisfied they were with their options for the November 2024 election. 

Despite the high stakes for this election, voting seniors don’t feel like their vote makes very much of a difference on the national level. The average response was just above two point five. On the other hand, the average was a point higher, at about three point five, for respondents when asked how much they felt their vote made a difference in the primary elections.

Although the stakes feel high, no respondents said they definitely had or will do any political activism or campaigning, but around a quarter said they might before the election.