Youth Vote in 2024 was closer, smaller, and more divided

Question

In the 2024 American election, young voters 18–29 years old voted for Kamala Harris over Donald Trump by just 4 %, much closer than in 2020. The youth vote was around 47%, which did little or no more than in the last election. A study by CIRCLE and Harvard's Ash Center shows that Gen Z voters have become more polarized politically, with young men leaning right and young women leaning left. Young people overwhelmingly report feeling disconnected from democracy and that campaigns don't usually extend to them. The results contradict the idea that youth is a highly liberal or highly participatory group, but rather a generation that is more issue-motivated than party-motivated.

Answer 1

The original claim was, “Youth Vote in 2024 was closer, smaller, and more divided”. In efforts to back the claim, the student shared that young voters 18-29 were only in 4% difference, preferring Kamala Harris over Donald Trump. Harvard Kennedy School suggests that young men swayed right while young women leaned left. This online resource is highly credible and stems from Harvard's efforts to advance public policy and governance.

Going back to the initial claim, this evidence disapproves the ideas that the youth votes primarily left. They’re perceived to place more importance on policy rather than affiliating with a single party. Adding on, “While all age groups have grown increasingly discontent with the American democratic system in recent years,” according to Iruela Lane. With less than a third of the youth trusting the government according to the Harvard Kennedy School, this has led to impactful numbers across youth voting and political involvement.

Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/google/right-dominates-online-media-ecosystem-seeping-sports-comedy-and-other-supposedly

This resource shows media consumption trends among the youth during the time of election and how that played a role in the youth’s vote, whether it be social media, podcasts, TV, etc.

Politico: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/private-chat-among-young-gop-club-members-00592146?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=snews 

It’s stated as a secondary source but the primary source shows the leaked texts shown in a young republicans chat on Telegram.

4. What potential biases or interests might each of your sources have? Harvard's Kennedy School could have potential bias towards left leaning ideals and possible oppose right wing views. In my opinion, they did a great job staying neutral in the article and proved both sides of the argument. Media Matters is known for critiquing conservative viewpoints through their use of media and tends to lean left on most issues across their platform.

5. What evidence supports the claim you are fact-checking?

“Gen Z favored Harris over Trump in the 2024 presidential election by just four points, strikingly less than the 25-point margin for Biden in 2020.” (Harvard Kennedy School)

“While these voters, born between 1997 and 2012, turned out in fewer numbers across all demographics in 2024 as compared to 2020, their voting preferences shifted to the right.” (Harvard Kennedy School)

6. What evidence undermines the claim you are fact-checking?

“...research indicates an overall downturn in approval ratings for Trump, especially among Gen Z voters, dropping from 94% to 69%.” (Harvard Kennedy School)

"By appearing on these shows ahead of the 2024 election, Trump reached an audience of 23.5 million American adults in an average week — compared to Harris’ 6.4 million — according to Edison Podcast Metrics." (Media Matters)

Answer 2

The claim that the Youth Vote in the 2024 American Presidential Election was closer, smaller, and more divided than in past elections is true.

The original poll where this claim is based on, is from the Harvard Kennedy School, where the article and both were both neutral with little bias. The poll mentioned financials, politics, community, and goals. Earlier this October, Harvard did a continued study on the poll, the article states that during this past election voters from Generation Z had a significantly lower turnout than the past election, and also had higher percentages towards the Republican party. The margin between the two parties has shrunk significantly since the past election. Many people in the generation have started to identify as Independent, instead of a specific party. The article also suggests that the generation has less trust in the government. This could mean that the younger generations' political alignment is shifting and could reshape party strategies.

This article can also be confirmed by CBS, although the article is overall pessimistic about the election and the future it does back up the claims from the Harvard article and poll. Stating all of the same evidence and claims. Politico, a left leaning news outlet also wrote a piece on the poll, re-stating and emphasizing the same points from the CBS and Harvard articles.

Overall, the claim that the youth in America are disconnected and more divided in their voting than past elections is true.

Comments

The claim that the youth vote in the 2024 U.S. presidential election was smaller, closer, and more divided than in previous elections is true, according to multiple independent and nonpartisan sources. The claim originates from the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics (IOP) Fall 2024 Youth Poll, which surveyed Americans aged 18–29 about political participation, party preference, and trust in government. The poll found that voter turnout among Gen Z and young millennials declined compared with 2020, the Democratic advantage among young voters narrowed significantly, and more young Americans identified as independents or politically unaffiliated (Harvard Kennedy School, 2024). These results were confirmed in coverage by CBS News, which summarized the same findings: that enthusiasm and trust in government have dropped, and that support for Democrats among young voters has fallen to its lowest level in over a decade (CBS News, Oct. 2024). Politico, while generally left-leaning, also reported on the same Harvard poll, emphasizing the smaller margins between the parties and a growing independent bloc among young voters (Politico, Oct. 2024). The consistency across these outlets—representing different political perspectives—supports the accuracy of the claim. Overall, credible data and cross-verified reporting indicate that the 2024 youth vote was indeed smaller in turnout and more divided in party alignment than in recent elections.
 Sources
Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics. “Fall 2024 Harvard Youth Poll: Young Americans’ Trust in Politics Declines, Party Gap Narrows.” Oct. 2024. https://iop.harvard.edu/youth-poll
CBS News. “Harvard Poll: Youth Voter Turnout and Democratic Advantage Decline in 2024.” Oct. 2024. https://www.cbsnews.com
Politico. “Harvard Poll Shows Younger Voters Drifting from Democrats.” Oct. 2024. https://www.politico.com