Gen Z and Millennials Are Undecided in the 2024 Election

A third of young voters aged 18 to 34 say they are undecided about who they will vote for in the 2024 presidential election, a recent poll showed, signaling an opportunity for candidates to attract this key voting bloc in the upcoming presidential polls.

The survey by the non-partisan Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University found that about a third of Americans aged 18 to 34 are undecided about who they’ll vote for in the 2024 presidential election. Thirty-seven percent want to vote for a Democrat, while 25 percent will side with a Republican. Seven percent would vote for a third-party or independent candidate.

The 2024 election is set to begin in earnest in a little over six weeks, where the Iowa caucuses are slated to kick-off on January 15 where Republican presidential candidates will compete for a chance to replace Democratic President Joe Biden at the White House.

The youth vote promises to be a critical bloc in determining the next election, according to the CIRCLE study, which found that in the next election cycle, there will be 40 million potential new Gen Z voters, a fifth of the overall electorate.

“Together with the youngest millennials, young people ages 18 to 34 are poised to be a potential force in the next presidential election,” they said.

The Pre-2024 Election Youth Survey was developed by CIRCLE and conducted by polling firm Ipsos between October 25 and November 2, 2023, with a sample size of 2,017 self-reported U.S. citizens aged 18 to 34, CIRCLE said.

Newsweek contacted the CIRCLE for comment via email on Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the poll also found that among young voters that are highly motivated to vote, 51 percent prefer a Democrat in 2024, 30 percent a Republican and 16 percent are still undecided.

“The high share of undecided voters (31 percent) among all youth in our survey is notable, though not totally unexpected far out from the election,” CIRCLE said in its report. “When looking at youth attitudes regardless of likelihood to vote, there appear to be undecided youth across the political spectrum: 35 percent of youth who are undecided about 2024 candidates voted for President Biden in 2020, while 15 percent voted for former President Trump.”

Youth voters told CIRCLE that in 2024, the economy will be top of mind in deciding how they vote. Young people said that inflation and the cost of living was their number-one concern, with 52 percent of those surveyed including it as one of their top-three issue in terms of priorities, followed by jobs that pay a living wage at 28 percent, gun violence prevention at 26 percent and climate change also garnering the support of 26 percent.