This midterm election comes at a critical moment, with Americans facing rising living costs and a war with Iran nearing its eighth month, two issues President Donald Trump promised to address on day one of his second term.
A recent Reuters poll reported Trump’s approval rating fell to 31%, the lowest point of his presidency.
Now, Americans are taking their frustrations to the polls in droves.
The Onondaga County Board of Elections saw a record 8,761 residents cast ballots on the first day of early voting.
But young voters may not be joining the rush to vote.
According to a recent report from Harvard’s Institute of Politics, only 1 in 3 Americans ages 18 to 29 say they will definitely vote in November. That’s down from 40% who said the same in both 2018 and 2022.
The Harvard Youth Poll, first conducted in 2000, tracks young Americans’ political opinions, policy perspectives and top concerns. Its latest findings reveal widespread pessimism: Just 9% of young people say the country is headed in the right direction, while 69% feel more fearful than hopeful about America’s future.
“People are just pissed off,” said William Ryan, 22, who voted in downtown Syracuse out of frustration. “It’s hard to kind of figure out which direction to move in.”
Given those circumstances, Ryan is an exception among young voters, according to the Harvard poll.
“If you don’t believe that the fundamental system of elections is working, or even trustable, you’re very unlikely to be willing to come out and politically engage,” said Sophia Robertson, chair of the Harvard Public Opinion Project.
Spencer Vono, a lifelong Democrat, is 26, slightly older than Ryan, and has a professional career in Upstate New York.
She wasted no time casting her ballot on the first day of early voting.
“I think it’s important [to vote] just because no action happens unless you vote,” she said.
Her top concern matched Ryan’s: the economy.
The Harvard Youth Poll found nearly 70% of the 1,296 young Americans surveyed identified the cost of living as a top grievance. More respondents expect to be worse off financially than their parents (27%) than expect to be better off (25%).
“No one can afford anything,” said Ryan, a Syracuse University student who is trying to stay optimistic at a time when a gallon of gas costs $4.21 and median rent has climbed an average of 13% over the past two years, according to Zillow real estate tracking.
Still, he and Vono are exceptions. The Harvard poll found only 1 in 3 young adults trust that this year’s election will run fairly and accurately.
That’s why Ryan can’t blame the 2 in 3 young voters who might be too frustrated to vote, regardless of their party registration.
“Republicans are having to deal right now with the idiocy from the Trump administration,” he said. “Democrats are having to deal with feckless, poorly managed politics from the left.”
“This is the first time we’re really seeing young people connect corruption to the affordability crisis,” Robertson said.
Perhaps the $11.6 trillion in national debt will motivate young voters to cast their ballots. That’s the total the U.S. Treasury says has accrued during Trump’s time in office, just under six years across both terms.
Nevertheless, Ryan and Vono remain optimistic that their peers will rally and vote before polls close at 9 p.m. Tuesday.
“I think it’s definitely doable,” Vono said. “I think we can advocate for a better future.”
