Longer thread: so I want to talk more about the age discrepancy thing mentioned in my tweet earlier. There is an ENORMOUS disconnect going on at the local level between the people who show up and volunteer (boomer and above) vs. those who do not (Gen X and younger). https://twitter.com/carmichaelsk/status/1312420772804263936

In NC: Gen X, Millennial, and Gen Z all register as independent far more than either R or D. This was particularly significant for 2018. I don't know the data yet for 2020. https://www.ncspin.com/a-shifting-electorate-in-2018-highlighted-voter-trends

If you are not registered as R or D, it is structurally *really difficult* to get involved in local politics, even as a non-partisan election worker. Again, this is specific to NC; I can't speak for the systems in other states. This is particularly true for young people.

I'm an independent voter and I've long wanted to be a poll worker - but unless there is 1) space in your precinct, 2) you're party-affiliated, and 3) know someone to vouch for you to the Board of Elections, it's really hard - if not impossible - to volunteer.

My precinct is full of very engaged older people who genuinely enjoy being poll workers. The only reason I got "in" was because one of the older workers was not willing to risk her health, so I took her place.

I saw SO MANY older people this morning who were willing to risk their health for this election - but at the same time, that meant there was truly very little room for younger people to step up, even if they wanted to!

I think there is a solution, but it means a significant outreach component from both campaign chairs and county election boards to get younger people involved. This is particularly true in rural areas; I can't speak for urban ones because I don't live in one.

In rural places, your main methods of communication and recruitment for local political volunteerism are basically just through word-of-mouth relationships between Boomers and older folk, so you are missing out on three whole generations of people who communicate differently!

The R and D parties have structures to engage with younger voters and volunteers, but there is no such structure for unaffiliated voters such as myself.

We do not even get seats on the state Board of Elections, even though we make up a SIGNIFICANT voting block (33%, compared to R's at 30% and D's at 36%). We have zero representation at the state level. https://www.ncdemography.org/2020/08/13/who-are-north-carolinas-7-million-registered-voters/

I have Gen Z students who want to be involved. As a Gen X-er, I also want to be involved. There is literally ZERO info available about how to become involved and thus we feel neither valued nor welcomed (I don't mean by individual people, but by the system as a whole).

Nationwide messaging is the only thing that I've seen that lets people know that it's even possible to be involved locally... but when push comes to shove at the local level? It is NOT obvious unless you already know people, and young people don't have access to those networks.

Anyway - at the end of the day, we need to make it easier, not harder, for 1) independent voters to be part of the political process, and 2) younger voters/volunteers to access local networks and get meaningfully involved.

These are structural problems - some that require actual changes to state laws and/or changes to organization governance. I think that if more folks were aware of these structures (and barriers), there would be less inter-generational bitterness about engagement?