A Gen Z-led company tapped TikTok influencers to turn out young voters in midterm elections, creating a “blueprint” for 2024

Amid a climate of targeted election misinformation, grassroots organizations such as One Arizona are intensifying their outreach to Latino voters, with a focus on connecting with younger generations through high school visits and outreach at music and cultural festivals. One Arizona has registered about 120,000 young voters in the state since March.

In Philadelphia, organizations such as Asian Americans United, Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Association Coalition, and Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance spearheaded voter registration and education efforts in Asian American communities, offering resources, outreach, and election day assistance in voters' native languages. The Asian Pacific Island Political Alliance reached more than 62,000 voters in 15 languages, and Asian American turnout likely helped sway Pennsylvania's tight Senate race, with roughly 74 percent of the demographic casting their ballots for Democrats.

California Students Vote Project, a public-private partnership, encourages college students to vote. Covid-19-adjusted strategies include sending out multiple emails, using social media, and encouraging peer-to-peer contacts to inform students about how to register to vote and the ways they can actually cast their ballots. Group representatives also visit Zoom classrooms to share information and some students have organized virtual events, such as political trivia night, to foster student engagement. Over 65,000 California students have registered to vote since August, triple the number from all of 2016.

New groups are recruiting poll workers to help fill shortages made worse by Covid-19. Poll Hero Project is an initiative created and led by young people that has recruited over 28,000 high school and college-age poll workers using social media. Power the Polls is a coalition of well-known brands that used social media outreach, digital marketing, and celebrity promotions to sign up over 530,000 volunteers. Both groups help navigate what can be a complicated process to sign up to work the polls.

Youth Action Fund trains students to host registration drives and other community campaigns at their schools, and even provides stipends and community service hours to those who volunteer. During registration drives held at four schools in August, nearly 250 students registered to vote.

Ahead of Chicago's runoff municipal election, organizations such as GoodKids MadCity and Chicago Votes targeted youth voters with nontraditional events such as fashion shows and art installations, hosted youth-led candidate forums, and helped young residents get set up with IDs and driver's licenses needed for registration. Turnout among voters age 18 to 24 increased by 32 percent between the February election and the April runoff.

In Oregon, voters are automatically registered when they get their driver's license, and voters are automatically sent a ballot when election time comes. The state had the highest turnout rate in the country in the 2022 midterm election, with 61.5% of eligible citizens casting a ballot.

Ahead of Georgia's runoff election, organizations such as Georgia Youth Justice Coalition and Voters of Tomorrow pushed their outreach with Gen Z voters into high gear through text messages, phone calls, in-person conversations, and campaigns to get early voting centers on college campuses. Their efforts helped members of Gen Z outperform voters ages 25 to 40 in early and absentee voting during the runoff election.

Through the Vot-ER program, doctors, nurses, and other health care staff speak to their patients about registering to vote and provide important election information, even wearing badges with QR codes that patients can scan to access online voting resources. Since 2020, the initiative has helped more than 66,000 people register to vote or request a mail-in ballot, and more than 500 hospitals, clinics, and centers have participated.

Groups such as Texas Organizing Project are focusing on reaching out to voters year-round rather than just during election season, with the goal of reaching people who are often not a priority for traditional campaigns and political parties.