New poll by nonprofit organization think young found that teenagers under the age of 18 are divided about their political party identity.
About 24% of respondents ages 13 to 17 said the Democratic Party represented their ideals well, while 24% said the same about the Republican Party, and 23% said neither party represented their ideals well. I answered that it was not well represented. A further 26% said they were not sure.
As with adults, party preferences varied by gender, with 26 percent of women and 20 percent of men preferring the Democratic Party. That flipped to Republicans, with 29 percent of men and 20 percent of women preferring Republicans.
Also, more than half of respondents said the country was heading in the wrong direction, compared to nearly 11% who said it was heading in the right direction.
“Surveying minors about their voting preferences is rare, but doing so can provide valuable insights for the future. Learn more about what shapes their political views.” and assess their awareness and understanding of key social and political issues,” the authors write. In the survey.
When it comes to the 2024 presidential election, 53% of teens said they were somewhat or very satisfied with their candidate choices, while 47% were not very satisfied or not at all satisfied. replied.
About 37% of respondents said they would vote for Vice President Harris, and 35% said they would vote for President-elect Trump. 27% said they would either abstain from voting or vote for a third-party candidate.
However, only 22% of those who said they did not vote said it was because there was no candidate they wanted to vote for. The most common reasons for not voting were not being very political (26%) and not knowing enough (24%).
Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they get information from social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, and nearly half said they get information from family and friends. Local television and news websites were less popular (26 percent and 37 percent, respectively).
When asked about issues related to their future voting bloc, nearly half of respondents said inflation was their top issue, followed by women's reproductive rights, gun violence, and health care. However, the findings were divided on who would be better able to address each issue.
Trump led Harris by about 13 points on inflation, but she led by 49 points on reproductive rights, 7 points on gun violence, and 19 points on health care.
For young women, 44% said inflation remains their top issue, followed by reproductive rights (35%) and gun violence (22%). More men consider inflation a more relevant issue, with nearly 57% citing it as a top priority, followed by health care (16%) and gun violence (15%).
Reproductive rights were the least important issue for this group, with just under 7% ranking it as the most important issue.
The ThinkYoung poll was conducted between October 4 and November 4 among 1,800 13- to 17-year-olds in the United States.
