This essay is part of a Women & Democracy multimedia package focused on Gen Z and student voters. The future envisioned by young leaders is bright—it’s built on reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, sustainability, freedom from violence and economic opportunity. Explore essays, a brand-new podcast, videos and more from some of your most loved (or soon to be!) influencers and writers, brought to you by Ms., DoSomething, the nonprofit that helps make volunteerism “cool,” and The Anthem Awards, the social impact arm of The Webbys.
Gen Z and millennials are officially the largest voting bloc in the U.S., making up 48 percent of eligible voters. In 2022, it’s estimated that 27 percent of people aged 18-29 cast a ballot, marking the second highest youth voter turnout in a midterm election in almost three decades. Since then, 8 million young people have reached voting age, and just under half of them are people of color.
“The foundation is that everybody’s important in democracy. That’s kind of the fundamental premise of it, and young people get left out of that conversation,” said Lucille Wenegieme, executive director at HeadCount, an organization focused on music and culture as a doorway to civic engagement.
Born out of the jam band space, HeadCount collaborates with musicians, brands, corporations and other cultural spaces in order to meet potential voters in the spaces they regularly inhabit.
That’s a misconception about young people, that they’re nihilistic in that way. They’re really not. They’re quite hopeful.
Lucille Wenegieme, executive director at HeadCount
“I like to say that we turn music fans into voters. … We have a really unique opportunity to talk to them fan to fan, versus somebody who is trying to get their vote for a specific outcome,” said Wenegieme. “Partisans are always going to be focused on reaching the margin of people that they need to get the outcome that they want. And democracy is so much bigger than that.”
Young people are a remarkably unaffiliated group compared to their older counterparts, according to a recent Gallup poll:
- The majority of millennials and Gen Z are independent of any political party, at 52 percent.
- The silent generation and baby boomers fall strictly along party lines with 26 percent and 33 percent identifying as independent, respectively.
“What we do know about young people is they do believe in change. … I think that’s a misconception about young people, that they’re nihilistic in that way. They’re really not. They’re quite hopeful,” said Wenegieme.
With over 60,000 volunteers in their network, HeadCount has registered over 1,300,000 voters. Despite the common notion that young people are often cynical, Wenegieme said that people are usually excited to see and talk to volunteers, giving her “great hope for what civic engagement can really be.”
Wenegieme said that her favorite event she’s worked at so far has been Dead and Company’s shows at The Sphere in Las Vegas. “It was so cool to see a band that was really in command of their legacy, not just musically, but socially, and to see the members of the band be so sort of in sync with each other.”
Wenegieme said voting is not the only place to encourage young people to transform their hope into civic action. While it must remain in the “change menu,” change can also come from talking to your friends and family, sharing vital information on social media and volunteering for causes that matter to you.
“The United States, in a lot of ways, is the way it is right now because other people have made the choice to vote. And those people probably will continue to vote. So it’s imperative for young people to have their opinions, their preferences, expressed through voting. And to not be exempt from that conversation, I will also be the first person to say voting is not the only way forward. It just is a vital way forward.”
Empowering young women *and* young men is essential to restoring U.S. democracy. If you agree, sign up for our daily or weekly emails to hear from (and join!) the multigenerational feminists building the future. Or go back to the essay collection.
