Washington DC - The 2024 presidential election between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump will welcome eight million new Gen-Z voters – giving the generation a louder voice in US politics than ever before.

Gen-Z, generally encapsulating those born between the late '90s and early '10s, will have significant sway on this year's election.

41 million eligible voters belong to this cohort, and while young people still typically lean towards the Democratic party, Gen-Z is proving to be a remarkably complex voting body.

The latest data has revealed a stark gender divide among the youth vote – with women growing more liberal and many men gravitating towards the right.

Donald Trump Trump touts election conspiracies in anticipated debut on Joe Rogan podcast

While the issues important to Gen-Z have been well-documented, the reasons behind their particular impact are often overlooked, despite being a crucial consideration in understanding how these young people will vote this year.

Gen-Z has been branded the "Columbine generation" – the first to attend school entirely in the shadow of the 1999 Columbine massacre.

Though, at the time, the shooting was an unimaginable tragedy, the threat of gun violence has become something that Gen-Zers have had to live with every day of their schooling.

Active shooter drills, amped-up security, and bulletproof backpacks have become the norm, and after every devastating massacre, calls to action ultimately fall on deaf ears as politicians hesitate to pass any meaningful measure of gun control.

Michelle Obama Michelle Obama calls out "fed up" voters at Harris rally in Michigan: "Your rage does not exist in a vacuum"

In this year's election, it remains clear that many politicians are willing to turn a blind eye to the issue, with Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance even calling school shootings a mere "fact of life."

But Gen-Z voters, some of whom have survived multiple school massacres in their young lives, aren't willing to accept this horrifying state of affairs.

Though Harris leads the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and has called for banning assault weapons, her recent comments bragging about owning a gun – which the campaign has even turned into a viral TikTok soundbite – hasn't resonated as well with Gen-Z.

After all, research has long indicated that more guns make communities more dangerous – not safer.

With practically the entire US college population comprised of Gen-Zers, the horrors of Israel's war on Gaza sparked one of the biggest movements of their young adulthood as students across the country launched hundreds of on-campus protests.

From Columbia to UCLA, students called for their schools' divestment from Israel and an overall end to the violence through demonstrations on campus.

But their cries for peace and a free Palestine were met with brutal crackdowns as universities suspended students and even brought law enforcement in to forcefully shut down encampments.

Going into the presidential election, the swift attempts to silence the student protestors have invigorated Gen-Z with a heightened desperation to have their voices heard.

Harris has made far more calls to protect Palestinians amid Israel's assault than her rival, but she has also faced backlash for shutting down pro-Palestinian protestors at her rallies.

Some voters are opting to throw their support behind third-party candidates like Jill Stein in protest of Harris' stance on Gaza, but a significant amount of Gen-Z voters have notably taken to social media to urge their peers to stick with the Democratic candidate out of concern a third-party vote would benefit Trump, who has called on Israel to "finish the problem" with its war on Gaza.

Climate change has been a crucial issue in the eyes of today's youth, who have grown up feeling the tangible effects of global warming and other staggering environmental changes.

While the occasional 80-degree day in February may have been a happy surprise for Gen-Zers who could flock to their college quads, these students are also quite aware of the dangers lurking behind such unprecedented occurrences.

From devastating storms to deadly heatwaves, young people have been experiencing the impact of climate change firsthand for their entire lifetimes.

This has, in turn, led many teen activists to join the forefront of climate activism in recent years, calling on lawmakers to take meaningful action to protect the future they will inherit.

In this election, Trump's denial of climate change and vows to strip back environmental protections will certainly hurt his chances among Gen-Z.

According to a recent poll from The Lancet Planetary Health, the majority of young voters are seeking a candidate who promises bold action on the climate. Notably, the poll even showed that more than half of young people were "hesitant to have children" amid the current climate crisis – signaling that this issue has become quite personal to the generation overall.

Election Day is November 5. Early voting has already begun for many, and to learn more information about your polling site, check out TAG24's guide to finding your voting location.