Media Relations Update July 22, 2020

As the world faces a changing political, economic, and social landscape, ALZA Strategies is committed to keeping you in the loop on how the COVID-19 crisis is impacting public affairs. We hope you remain healthy and safe during these trying times.

Recent survey indicates promising participation by youth in November elections

As the country heads toward the 2020 election, there has been a massive push to rally young people, spark political engagement among the youth, and increase voter registration in their age group. In order to better understand how this demographic might perform in November, the University of California (U.C.) released a report on a survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of U.C. that examines 18-24 year old’s perception of current events and civic engagement amid the ongoing pandemic.

Credit: New survey shows California youth actively engaged in elections, support expanded voting options, worry about pandemic’s impact on elections , July 21, 2020. UC Office of the President -University of California

UC’s report also found that youth were in favor of removing barriers to voting, and a large percentage like using mail-in ballots (87%) and making Election Day a national holiday (61%). Survey respondents also expressed concern about COVID-19 interfering with voter turnout, with 69% saying they were very or somewhat concerned about voter turnout in the midst of a pandemic .

Credit: New survey shows California youth actively engaged in elections, support expanded voting options, worry about pandemic’s impact on elections , July 21, 2020. UC Office of the President -University of California

Another finding highlighted the diversity of political perspectives among California youth. According to the data, young people have broadly divergent political views, ranging from very liberal to very conservative with 17% reporting that the do not know where they fall in the political spectrum.

One of the most noteworthy findings was that only 18% of those surveyed believe that the country is headed in the right direction . Of chief concern is the COVID-19 pandemic, along with gun violence, jobs and the economy, healthcare, and immigration.

Young adults also said that they were paying “a lot” or “some” attention to the upcoming Presidential elections (59%), and reported that non-traditional media is their main source of news. In particular, 45% said that they receive the majority of their news about politics and the elections through social media while only 25% claimed using traditional media sources like television, newspapers or radio.

Roger Salazar, President rsalazar@alzamedia.com | (916) 284-1255 Hilary McLean, Partner hilary@alzamedia.com | (916) 203-7274

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