Texans under 30 are driving a big surge at the polls.
There’s 18-year-old Sam Romine who voted in his first presidential election.
“I just think this election is probably, definitely the most important in my lifetime so I kind of feel it’s my obligation to come out,” Romine said.
Alex Moerbe and her friends stood in line together at the American Airlines Center.
“Every single one of my friends has already voted,” she said.
Her friend Morgan Geyer said this was her first time voting.
“So I felt this election was very important,” Geyer said. “COVID-19, Black lives movement, I just feel there’s a lot at stake.”
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Non-partisan, nonprofit Move Texas has worked for years to increase political power for Texas youth. The organization has crisscrossed the state to help people register to vote.
“We are on track to absolutely smash every youth voter turnout record this state has ever had,” said spokesperson Charlie Bonner. “As of this morning, more than a million under 30 voters have cast their ballots compared to 1.2 million total for all of 2016, and we still have two very big days of voting left.”
Cole Howard, 26, said he felt this election has been advertised more on social media and by celebrities.
“Our president is very controversial, so people want to do something about it,” he said.
Wayne McInnis, 23, once felt his vote didn’t matter.
“There’s been tons of campaigns pushing for it [voting]. My parents have been pushing for it, so I just felt I owed it to myself,” he said. “The biggest thing that brought me to the polls is just a great emphasis not only for young voters but for Black people to come out and make a change.”
Move Texas said young voters tended to lean toward Democrats, increasing the possibility of Texas turning into a real battleground state.
