Group works to energize Gen Z to vote

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — With midterms less than a month away, a non-partisan organization is making a full-court press, determined to get young people registered and to the polls.

Right now, Headcount is registering voters at concerts and sporting events nationwide. The organization has already registered 175,000 people and counting, doubling its number from four years ago.

“There’s a lot of momentum from these young voters I’m talking to,” Ann Keasling, a sports field organizer for Headcount, said. “They’re feeling like they have a big responsibility and a big opportunity to see what they care about reflected by voting.”

The 22-year-old is hopeful the nation’s youngest voters, Gen Z, will show up big this November.

Tom Bergan, Headcount’s voter engagement manager, said voters under 30 could make a difference in key races.

“I think really speaks to the excitement that exists around the midterm election this year,” he said. “This could be a tipping point.”

While Headcount isn’t picking sides, political analyst Todd Belt said its work is particularly good for Democrats.

“The 18- to 29-year-old voters really gave Joe Biden the White House,” he said.

Belt explained that this cycle, those same voters aren’t so fired up about President Biden’s performance.

“(They’re) back to being the least enthusiastic and the least likely to vote,” he said.

But, after the Supreme Court took away the national right to an abortion, there’s been a flood of new voter registration.

“Will it be enough to turn the tide? Time will tell,” he said.