This is the first of several prompts for teenagers as part of the Headway Election Challenge in partnership with Chalkbeat. We’ll be asking young people to share their insights and perspectives throughout the 2024 presidential election.
Welcome to Week 1 of the Headway Election Challenge! We’re thrilled you’re here.
We’ve spoken to a lot of teenagers since the beginning of the year, and we know that elections can seem complicated, overwhelming, or even distant, making it easy to feel as if your voice doesn’t really matter.
But here’s the truth: You can help shape the future of your community, city, state, and country. Every voice adds to the larger conversation about where we’re headed next, and yours can be as big as you make it.
Take Aakrisht Mehra, a 16-year-old senior from Dublin, California. Mehra loves to read — right now, he’s on an Aristotle kick — and drink iced caramel macchiatos with two shots of espresso. As a public policy advocate and former congressional intern, he considers himself “really” politically engaged. But he admits it’s not easy for teens like him to get involved.
“We internalized and almost embraced this idea that our voices don’t matter regardless of what we want to do. Regardless of what we actually believe in, our voices won’t make an impact,” Mehra said. “I think that prevents people from going to a lot of polls, because if everyone around you is telling you, and everyone around you believes in the idea that your voice doesn’t really matter, you’re not necessarily motivated to go out and actually vote and engage with these elections.”
Elyse Reznik, a self-described “political nerd” from Los Angeles, turned 18 in February and by March, she was already voting in her city’s primary election, filling in the bubbles of her mail-in ballot at her kitchen table.
“I was really excited to vote,” she said. “I was watching votes tally in for different candidates on the website and everything. And I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I’m one of those numbers!’”
Reznik has some advice for those who aren’t yet able to cast their own ballots: There are plenty of ways to make an impact. “Everything from knocking on doors to phone banking to text banking,” she said. “Even though you can’t vote, you can help others do so.”
The Headway Election Challenge in partnership with Chalkbeat is all about hearing directly from young people like Mehra and Reznik, and those who are much less plugged-in. We want to know how you’re participating in — or tuning out — the 2024 election.
So, let’s kick things off with a simple, but fundamental question: How much do you care about this year’s presidential election? Fill out this form to tell us.
Here’s a quick fact: About 50 percent of young people aged 18 to 29 voted in the 2020 presidential election, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University. This was an 11-point increase from 2016. It was also the highest rate of youth participation since 1992 and the third highest since the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18 in 1971.
What to Expect
Over the next several weeks, leading up to Election Day on Nov. 5, we’ll publish new sets of questions and highlight responses from you — potential first-time and future voters. You’ll receive weekly emails from us alerting you of the next set of questions.
After the election, we’ll gather all of your insights, compile everything we learned along the way, and create a time capsule of teen engagement in the 2024 election. Our goal is to develop a resource for future cohorts of young people curious about how to engage in an election — because there will always be more.
To jump right into the challenge, fill out this questionnaire. If you’re not a teenager or young first-time voter, you can stay in the loop by signing up for the Headway newsletter.
Oh, and by the way, all of Headway’s work is free to read. You don’t need a subscription to participate in this challenge.
Please fill out this form only if you are 14 or older. If you are between the ages of 14 and 17, Headway will ask to get in touch with your parent or guardian before talking with you further. If you have any questions, email DearHeadway@nytimes.com .
