Peers Pave Way to Get Young People to the Polls

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Kim Sillen
August 12, 2024

Scene: It’s the year 1990, and the camera focuses on a combat boot-clad Madonna, draped in an American flag over underwear, as she sings and playfully scolds young people to vote, or to face the consequences of a spanking. This was a public service announcement from Rock the Vote, in partnership with MTV, when I was a newly-minted 18-year-old registered voter. Rock the Vote had millions of dollars and a roster of A-list preforming artists, urging my generation to register and get to the polls for mid-term elections.

The press heaped congratulatory praise on the effort, and outward signs suggested that the campaign was working. However, many years later, upon seeing data for that campaign, I was stunned to learn that the initiative mobilized only 2.7 percent more young voters who had seen the commercials in comparison to those who had not. According to Rebecca Nelson’s article in the The Atlantic, “How Rock the Vote Survived the ’90s and Grew Up,” after the Madonna campaign was unfurled, only 26 percent of young voters ages 18 to 29 voted in the 1990 midterm elections.

Nevertheless, the belief that celebrities were the key to persuading young people to vote persisted for years. While there is a rare pop star like Taylor Swift, who does uphold that notion, research has shown that Gen Z is at best largely unmoved by celebrity advocacy, and at worst, is slightly annoyed by it.

Peer advocacy, however, has been proven to be effective on young people today. Having worked with the non-profit Y-Vote on a couple of youth voter advocacy initiatives in 2020, I saw first-hand how persuasive teens are in engaging their friends and classmates to get involved at and beyond the ballot box. Y-Voters educate their peers about the importance of voting, apropos of the issues that they care about and the ones that impact their lives.

I spoke with three teenage Y-Vote volunteers recently about their challenges and strategies in persuading other young people of the importance of voting.

[Interview with Enkhdari, a senior of Mongolian heritage at the United Nations International School, New York City]

When I asked what originally drew her to voter advocacy, Enkhdari replied, “Small actions build momentum— it’s going out of your way to say, if I can do this, then you can, too. It’s a form of mobilizing your resources. It’s important to show the community that caring about voting and civic activity still matters. A lot of Asian voters feel it’s not worth voting, and that their voices aren’t being heard. I try to convey that voting isn’t just about a candidate, but issues affecting you and your neighborhood and how you can apply that to the nation.”

She added that older Asian generations sometimes are reluctant or dismissive of engaging politically, which impacts the younger generations, who respect the advice of older family members. “New York being multicultural—our votes should be representative of our people and ALL of our values,” she expanded.

Enkhdari stresses that cultural competency is critically important in outreach efforts, and she notes that governmental and other voting-related materials are often loaded with a form of linguistic gate-keeping that causes would-be voters to turn away.

When I asked her how she handles the resistance of a single-issue voter, who says no candidate resonates with them on that one issue, she replied, “I stress the importance of being a multi-issue voter, because so many issues are intersectional, and you can’t have one without the other.” She added that young people can change the system in a way that is better when they see the issues they care about as interrelated.

Enkhdari’s advice to young people who feel they don’t know enough to vote intelligently:
“Do your research on the candidate as a PERSON before they were a candidate…dissolve the power dynamic and ask yourself who that person really is.”

[Interview with Sonja, a rising freshman at Yale University]

Asked why she got involved with youth voter advocacy, Sonja replied that, “More and more, government has impacted our lives…which makes it hard NOT to want to be involved.”

When I questioned her about the challenge of single-issue voters, she answered that she tries to navigate with nuance in a conversation, acknowledging that it’s fair to say neither candidate aligns perfectly with the peer’s viewpoint, but that young people can nevertheless have a tangible impact on what happens next with that very policy through the process of engaging. She underscores the immense differences between the candidates, and the policy changes that could come to pass should they win. “Peers are ready to listen; Gen Z is really open-minded to different points of view.”

“But,” she says, “it’s more the logistical hurdles, like defying your parents and voting for a candidate they’re against that prevent some young people from voting.” She finished by adding, “Programs like Y-Vote that are youth-led make it possible for logistical hurdles to be navigated, and more youth-led opportunities would lead to higher youth turnout.”

[Interview with Christine, a student at Millennium Brooklyn High School, Brooklyn.]

“The recent update to the Democratic ticket has energized young voters into action!” Christine exclaimed.“ There has been youth voter disconnect to politics in the association that government was run by older, White men. Many could not relate to their elected officials. But now…I see young voters excited to get involved, vote and follow the election,” she continued.

It seems clear that a younger woman of color running for President will certainly draw a surge of Gen Z voters to the Democratic ticket. What is less certain but also likely, is that this renewed energy among young people will also spill over to their Republican-leaning peers, sending them to the polls to counter the Harris supporters. Whatever the demographics of the turnout, if young people across the spectrum become inspired to vote, the result will be a healthy outcome for democracy. 

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Author: Kim Sillen is the Deputy Director of Creative Service at NYC DOT. She cofounded The Largest Generation (now See Gen Z Vote), a youth voter advocacy internship for college students in 2020, which created digital campaigns and infographics for colleges and organizations across the U.S. that were looking to reach potential Gen Z voters. More recently, she partnered with Lift Every Vote, which utilized her research on preregistration. [email protected]

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