Four years ago, things were kind of lacking on the young people and voting front. Not as grim as 2016, of course, but still: Only 50 percent of 18 to 29 year olds voted in the 2020 presidential election, meaning millions upon millions of us couldn’t—or couldn’t be bothered—to get to the polls.
But that was then. And this is now. And things are…different this time around. In a new Cosmopolitan survey, 82 percent of voting-age Gen Z respondents said they’re planning to cast a ballot in the presidential election next month. (And okay, sure, people don’t always follow up on plans, which is why we asked if they’ll actually vote before or on November 5. Nearly 70 percent said “definitely.”)
These new insights, part of Cosmopolitan’s The Youth Vote project—a series dedicated to surfacing what Gen Z is thinking, feeling, and acting on this election cycle—stands apart from headlines that have been dominating the news. Ones about how Gen Z is “fatalistic” about politics, ones about how many, many young people don’t plan to vote at all.
To really understand what’s happening—to surface the nuanced mindset of a generation of almost 70 million young people—our poll of Americans ages 18 to 27 dug into all things presidential election: the important issues, obviously (climate change ranked surprisingly low), but also Gen Z’s political motivations (basically, themselves?) and how they feel about chronically online politicians (a little bit cringe), the meme-ification of campaigning (sort of worried), the celebrification of candidates (actually kind of okay), and the TikTok of it all. Plus, a vibe check of potential Gen Z voters in this home stretch and what they never, ever want to hear again (hot tip to candidates: stop using the phrase “I promise.”)
Keep scrolling for the full results and prepare to be surprised. Would you honestly expect to be anything less this wild election year?
Methodology
Unless otherwise noted, all of the data in this story comes from an original online survey of 712 U.S. adults ages 18 to 27, conducted by Cosmopolitan and SurveyMonkey in September 2024.
Jamie Ballard (she/her) is a freelance writer and editor who covers news, lifestyle, and entertainment topics, including sex and relationships, TV, movies, books, health, pets, food and drinks, pop culture, shopping, and personal finance. She regularly contributes to Cosmopolitan, Woman’s Day, Good Housekeeping, and YouGov, among other publications. When she’s not working, you can find her running, traveling, or scrolling TikTok. Follow her on Twitter.
