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Katarina Flicker, a junior from Emory University, took the entire fall semester to organize for Georgia Democrats, helping register other students to vote.
And even though the November election is over – with President-elect Joe Biden returning the blue state for the first time since 1992 – Flicker is not over. She is now working closely with the Young Democrats of Emory to register even more people ahead of the two Georgian Senate second-round races, the outcome of which will determine which party controls the Senate.
In the general election, voters between the ages of 18 and 29 made up 20% of the Georgian electorate, according to NBC News exit polls. As the January 5 run-off draws near, young Georgians on both sides of the aisle are working to mobilize their peers to vote again – or for the first time in their lives.
“I think teenage complacency is something that’s been all the rage,” said Flicker, 20. “But seeing the way my generation, in particular, stood up and fought for what we believe in… that’s how you make changes.”
Grace Hall, 20, and Juliet Eden, 21, from Georgia, are students at the University of Georgia in Athens. They serve respectively as chairman and communications director for the college’s “Fair Fight” chapter, the political action committee founded by Stacey Abrams aimed at mitigating voter suppression.
The main purpose of the organization before the second round, they said, is to educate voters on the steps to take to ensure their votes are counted, such as checking that they have not been purged. electoral lists.
“I think the whole country is watching Georgia right now,” said Hall, a junior.
In a close general election, neither candidate for Georgia’s two senatorial elections reached the 50% threshold to win outright, sending both elections to the run-off as per state law. Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler face Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock respectively.
Eden, a senior citizen, said that she “never felt more like my vote counted than these last elections because of how close it is”.
Madison Potts, a 21-year-old at Kennesaw State University and school chapter chair of the NAACP, said she works to help her classmates enroll and provide them with information on how to obtain their absent ballots in the event of absence. of the House.
Potts said she had been involved in activism since she was 14, participating in protests and encouraging other students to become more politically active. She said she noticed that “the energy, especially among young people, is greater and better than ever”.
“I know the young people in Georgia really made the decision about these last elections, and by encouraging them to participate in this second round and be sure to run like we never have, it has been easier than the years. previous ones, ”she said. “So I am grateful for the new wave of energy around elections, voter turnout and activism.”
The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University estimates that the national youth turnout in the 2020 elections exceeded 50%, significantly higher than in 2016.
Among Georgian voters aged 18 to 29 in 2020, 56% voted for Biden while 43% voted for Trump, according to an exit poll from NBC News. Black voters made up 28% of Georgian voters under 30, and they voted 76% for Biden and 23% for Trump.
Democratic Senate candidates are making a concerted effort to train the youngest voters – those who weren’t old enough to vote in November but who will be eligible in January. According to the Civics Center, an organization dedicated to civic engagement of young people, this applies to 23,000 Georgians.
At a virtual rally Friday, Ossoff said the election “will come down to youth participation, so I call on young people to make a plan to vote.”
“Make sure you vote and make sure everyone in your circle votes,” Warnock added.
Ossoff held a rally for young voters and students in Cobb County on Thursday, not far from the Kennesaw State University campus. At the event, Jonathan Alvarez, a 20-year-old student at Georgia State University, said in an interview that he “wasn’t really interested in politics” until the 2016 election.
“But over the past four years, I have seen the real change that has taken place in the presidency, obviously in the White House,” he said. “And with what activity [President Donald] Trump is on social media and on Twitter and things like that, it gets more people to see what he’s saying in real time, which has made, I think, a lot of my generation more interested in politics. Because when you open the first page of Twitter and see your president talking, you’re still pretty much in the know. “
But Alvarez was also intrigued by a changing Georgia, once an afterthought for Democrats which in recent years has become one of the most controversial battlegrounds.
“Finally seeing in 2018 how close to victory Stacey Abrams was, I was like, ‘Oh, wow, things are really changing in Georgia,’ he said. “And so, it was just like, I saw the small steps and I saw the giant steps that we took.”
While some young people are not old enough to vote in the second round, they are still working to make a difference, such as “Students for Ossoff and Warnock” co-leader Ishani Peddi, 17, of Peachtree, Georgia.
“It’s very gratifying to realize that young people, and I as a young person, I am able to make changes and make a difference, and to fight for the issues that are close to my heart by helping to elect those representatives and elected officials who are really going to come up with effective legislation and bring about change in America, ”she said.
This dedication to political activism extends to all parties, with young activists signing up to volunteer for the next Senate run-off for Republican and Democratic candidates.
Gurtej Narang, 20, a junior at Georgia State University and treasurer of the Georgia Association of College Republicans, said it was important for the Senate to remain in Republicans’ hands now that Democrats will control both the White House and representatives room. His organization is launching “get out of the vote” initiatives and encourage members to help make phone calls, ring the doorbell and distribute important candidate information to voters statewide.
Jaylan Scott, 20, is the president of the Young Democrats of Georgia, an organization that strives to register even more young voters in the state before the second round.
“We really need to magnify how important this race is to the US Senate, the weight of the balances, they really depend on whether we can get young people to vote in Georgia,” he said.
Alexis Lopez, 21, a senior at Georgia State University, plans to continue working with campus organizations to encourage young voters to ensure their voices are heard after an internship with MP Nikema Williams’ campaign.
“We are very passionate about making sure that our justice system is truly fair and making sure that we get rid of the systemic racism that plagues this system, and also making sure we create a country that works for us and represents who we are, ”she says.
Caroline Hakes, a native of Georgia, a senior at George Washington University, is volunteering and voting for the upcoming second-round races. His work with Republicans at GW College heightened his political passion.
“It’s really easy to feel that your voice doesn’t matter when you’re so young, there’s a lot of people saying sit down and let the adults do it … I really think that people need to understand how important it is to have a say in their government, ”she said.
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