Why nearly 1 in 4 resort to lying about who they voted for – Deseret News

For Emma, ​​a 24-year-old nursing student living in California, not discussing politics and lying about who was her favorite in the 2024 presidential election is a way to save face among her peers.

Emma, ​​who asked that her last name not be used for fear of repercussions, said she received a “very liberal education” as a student. “If you were conservative, you were automatically classified as misogynist if you were a man, and you had internal misogynistic beliefs if you were a woman or if you didn’t know what you were talking about.”

“There was just no room for discussion in my college years, and that’s where most of the people I had to hide, vote for, or lie to come from, just because they weren’t open to discussion. , and they thought they knew best.”

Voter intimidation caused many to lie about who they voted for in this presidential election. A recent one Axios/Harris Poll Survey found that nearly 1 in 4 people around them have lied about their vote, and nearly half (48%) of Generation Z did so as well.

Gen Z and Black voters reported they were most concerned about voter intimidation when they went to the polls on Election Day.

How many of each generation have lied about their vote:

• Generation Z — 48%.
• Millennial — 38%.
• Generation X — 17%.
• Boomer and older: 6%.

This election cycle’s voting results indicate that Harris did not fully capture the support of young voters. According to Business insiderHowever, Generation Z’s significant shift to the right was not entirely surprising, as teens today are twice as likely to lean conservative compared to millennials two decades ago.

Malcolm Hatfield, an English major at Utah Valley University, told the Deseret News the day after the election that, surprisingly, no one really talked about it, and that the campus had a “very normal atmosphere” that day.

“I think there’s a silent contingent of people here who voted for him. He (Trump) did great in our age group,” Hatfield said, noting the contrast with social media being “annoying” that day.

Harris’ latest attempt to get the private vote

Shortly after the release of the Axios/Harris Poll survey, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign released several ads targeting women who may have been afraid to vote differently from their husbands. One of the advertisementsVoiced by actress Julia Roberts, it tells women, “You can vote any way you want, and no one will ever know. Remember: what happens in the booth, stays in the booth.”

Democrats were 3% more likely to lie about who they voted for than Republicans. However, men (30%) felt the need to remain silent about which candidate they preferred, almost double the number of women (17%) who felt the same way.

“I really think we’ve gotten into a culture where people hide a lot more than sit and just have complete, honest, heartfelt conversations,” Colby Baron, a 27-year-old in his first year in the physician assistant program at Rocky Mountain University in Provo, Utah, said.

“I think we also have a culture where people are very black and white” in the way we view issues, he said. “So much so that it can seem ‘brutal when we have disagreements.’

Millennials are said to have the most tension between family members over controversial topics. Thirty-three percent of respondents said disagreements keep them from being close to some family members.

“I think if someone asks you something, you should answer honestly and be open about it,” Baron added.

“And unfortunately, if that person isn’t willing to, you know, be respectful of what you say, that’s an uncomfortable barrier that you have to find a way to get through in order to have a good relationship with someone going.” keep.”

Is Gen Z more sensitive?

Emma believes that, with some exceptions, younger generations are generally more sensitive than older generations, and that this plays a role in why they feel the need to lie, with social media being a driving force behind this.

“I had friends who said, ‘If you voted for Trump… I don’t want anything to do with you.’ And then I think, ‘Okay, where does that leave me?’, but they don’t know that I voted that way, so they’re fine with it, but I don’t bring it up, and they don’t bring it up, because I think they know that my family voted Republican.”

“So it’s just a weird thing, it’s kind of an elephant in the room, where you don’t want to talk about it, and it’s also very difficult to talk to someone who gets all his sources from very biased and hateful media,” says them. added.

“It’s almost like I feel like I’m being shot so quickly. Is it even worth defending myself, or is it better to stay quiet and think, “What they don’t really need to know anyway?”

But not everyone is silent

Connelly Molnar, a 24-year-old photographer/videographer, has been very vocal about who he voted for on social media, saying that this presidential election in particular “meant more to me because I understand how important and how important this deal is ‘. The elections were actually not only for me, but also for my future children.”

Regardless of the outcome, “it really wouldn’t have affected me as an individual as much as it would have affected other people,” but he told the Deseret News that it’s important to him to be honest regardless.

“It’s the same with religion, it’s the same with a job, it’s the same with your favorite food, and you preach it because you love it. And it is exactly the same with politics. If you want to share what you believe in and what you love, you have to do it with confidence.”

Molnar’s outspokenness has led him into political discussions. People are offended by his posts, disagree with his opinions and even unfollow him on social media.

He said it was easier to have those conversations if both people kept an open mindset.

If someone is a liberal, and he comes to me, and he can respect me, and I can respect him, then we can easily coexist and work together. I think it comes down to 100% respect. When people don’t respect each other, bad things happen.”