Purchase dry ice, skydive, buy a can of spray paint, jury duty, open a retirement account, become the mayor: Things most Americans can do once they turn 18. Another thing they can now do- vote. This November millions of 18-year-olds will head to the polls to cast their votes for the first time. With this election being so tight, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are vying for all the votes they can get to close the margin. To do this, the candidates have been doing outreach to the generation of newest voters: Generation Z. 

Gen-Z are generally accepted to be people born after 1996 and have been politically characterized as very liberal and surprisingly politically active. In 2020 one in 10 eligible voters were a part of this generation. Not only are members of this generation highly outspoken online and in the streets, they also turn out to vote in high numbers when compared to young voters of previous generations, who tended to be very unreliable. 

Two of the 100 plus 18 year olds that attend the school spoke about their concerns, views and more.

 Talen Turiano, conservative, and Abigail (Bug) Novak, liberal, encapsulate the two sides of the political spectrum. Although Novak’s views are more common among young voters, Turiano’s are more common in the Blair County area. 

Soon after Novak’s eighteenth birthday, they registered to vote under the Green Party in June. 

“When I went to set up my PayPal there was a feature that made it so I could register there, so I figured I would just do it then,” Novak said. 

Registering to vote via outside sites is becoming an increasingly popular method of registration among young voters. For instance, just last school year, College Board launched a campaign to encourage students to register to vote when students 18+ interact with their website. Instagram and TikTok, social media platforms targeted towards young people, have also launched similar initiatives. 

Turiano, a particularly politically aware teen, registered in September, before he was even 18 and did so in the more traditional way. 

“I am a part of the Republican Party, and I plan on voting for Donald Trump,” Turiano said. “I would not consider myself a Radical Republican though.” 

According to Turiano, his staunch conservative views are taken from his faith and long family ties.“My grandma’s from down south, so we just have that conservative feeling, and then my grandfather is a pastor, so we have that conservative view because of Christianity,” Turniano said.

Unlike Turiano, Novak is not a part of one of the two major parties; instead they are joining the growing number of Gen-Z abandoning the two party system. Despite this, they are still planning to vote for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. 

As of 2023, one-third of Gen-Z identified as independent and in Pa., 35% of those registered are something other than Democrat or Republican. In an unscientific poll of 26 eligible voters that attend Altoona, 26.9% most identify with a party other than republican or democrat.

“Unfortunately I don’t want to be stuck voting ‘blue no matter who’ because they both kind of suck, but also I don’t want to help split the votes because we’re in Pa.,” Novak said. “Some of her policies and things she stands for are things I’m fully against. However, the things that I disagree with her on, he [Trump] shares the same opinions on.”

Many of the positions Trump’s Republican party holds, Turiano does as well. Despite this, Turiano sees compromise as imperative. 

“I don’t think the Republican Party compromises enough. I think that’s because of the fact they fear the Democratic Party won’t follow through on the compromise,” Turiano said. “I think that will just help us better ourselves as a nation and get more done.” 

When considering the need for compromise, none of Harris’ policies Turiano supports come to mind. However he applauds Harris for her outreach towards younger voters compared to Trump’s campaign. 

“We know the younger generation tends to be more aligned with Democrats. So I think that’s why Harris is doing more on TikTok and stuff like that. You don’t see Trump doing as much, and I think that’s because he’s more focused on the older voters,” Turiano said.

Conversely, Novak sees the need for the Democrats to be more stubborn when defending their beliefs.

“Trump is very blunt and will stick with what he believes in, even when it’s not that great,” Novak said. “I think that fire is why he appeals to people and something the Democratic party should do with their policies.”

Despite Harris’ broad approval from younger voters, many progressive voters, who tend to be younger, still have their qualms about Harris- most notably on Israel’s war on Palestine that has now spilled over in Lebanon.

“Israel and Palestine is definitely a huge motivator. It’s ridiculous that politicians are just letting Netanyahu do whatever he wants,” Novak said. “She is so close to getting the votes from young and liberal voters, but then she doesn’t see that she should stop backing Israel as far as she is. Both her and Trump are pro-Israel, but I feel like she is at least more progressive and less resistant to change than him.”

Another thing Gen-Z has to worry about is the longevity of democracy. Worldwide threats have been waged against democratic institutions resulting in their decline: From Putin’s war on democracy manifesting in his war on Ukraine, to mis and disinformation’s ability to be spread at record pace, to China eyeing Taiwan. This list of threats would be incomplete if the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. capital was not mentioned, as many experts believe January 6, 2021 and the lies that led up to it were deeply troubling for American Democracy. 

Novak concurs,“January 6 was ridiculous. Honestly I think the way Trump got away with it was insane,” Novak said. “Trump is 100% a threat to the already fickle democracy in this country.”

Turiano, along with most Republicans, believes the 2020 election results were illegitimate. This belief in the “Big Lie” is most pronounced in white evangelical Protestants and among those who most trust far right media and Fox News. 

“I believe the corruption happened more in the bigger cities, not so much in these tiny towns like ours, but places like Philadelphia for example,” Turiano said.

The persistence of the lie that Biden’s win in 2020 led to the attack on the capitol on Jan. 6 by Trump supporters in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election. Turiano himself was at the rally that preceded the attempted inserection. Despite witnessing it, he does not believe Trump is a threat to democracy, quite the opposite. 

“I don’t support their actions of starting the coup, but I support their ideas behind it…I see what the Democratic Party has done in this election as a threat to democracy,” Turiano said. “Nobody voted for her to run as the presidential candidate, she just happened to be his VP, so they threw her in. I think that is a threat to democracy because it’s not necessarily what the people wanted.”

The difference of opinion Turniano and Novak had on various issues revolving around the election are indicative of the growing divide among American voters. This trend was demonstrated in our small poll: 50% expressing support for Harris, 46.2% for Trump, and the remaining 3.8% for “other.”

Despite the divide that affects even the youngest voters, one new voter sees the importance of young people voting in these turbulent times. 

“As a new generation of voters, it’s hard for young people like us to realize how impactful our votes can be. Especially in an election that projects to be as close as this one, it’s important for everyone to register and go vote on Election Day,” senior Branson Adams said.