ATLANTA — Vote and vote early -- that is the message younger voters are trying to get out to their communities, but older Georgians are acting on it at a much greater pace, early data shows.
Friday marks National Vote Early Day and several metro Atlanta colleges and universities are participating with their own get-out-the-vote efforts during this midterm election.
Young Democratic voters at Georgia State University have several issues on their minds and are making sure it's reflected on the ballot.
“Abortion rights, student loan forgiveness, clean energy and also social justice and voting rights,” Julius Thomas, the CEO of The People’s Uprising said when asked what topics are important to him.
Another student said the culture war over firearms is one that hits home in Georgia.
“The lack of gun control (has) become really controversial in the state of Georgia,” Amir Shivers with Votelanta said.
Across party lines, Republican Michael Koscho said abortion is the top voting issue for him.
“With Roe v. Wade being overturned, I do think that is a good thing,” he said. Inflation was next on his list.
Organizations like The People’s Uprising, Dorm Storm and the Georgia Association of College Republicans are pushing their get-out-the-vote efforts. Though they may not see eye-to-eye on the issues, they all agree that taking them to the ballot is a key way to create change.
While voters younger than 30-years-old showed an 11-point increase in voter turnout from 2018, older people still showed the highest overall turnout.
U.S. Census data shows that 76 percent of people between 65 to 74 voted in the 2020 election.
These voters have different issues in mind when they head to the polls.
“The safety of the senior citizens,” Judith Grant said, adding crime tops her list when it comes to the ballot box. “We’re scared to go to the filing station, scared to go to the bank or grocery store."
Grant added that affordable housing and taxes were next on her list.
But despite the issues they differ on, older early voters in Georgia are outpacing the younger voters by a large margin. Officials report 80,839 those between the ages of 18 to 29 have voted early so far. However, 602,975 people 65 years old or older have cast their ballots.
This is the last weekend for early voting and Friday, Oct. 28 is the last day to request an absentee ballot.
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