America's youngest voters become major election liars
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Half of Gen Z voters — and 1 in 4 U.S. voters overall — have lied to people close to them about who they're voting for, according to the latest Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll.
Why it matters: Voters 18-27 who came of age during the hyper-polarized Trump era appear to be among the most sensitive to perceived pressure and judgment from friends or loved ones.
- "There's a new privacy emerging here, where it's far more convenient to either lie or not talk about it," said John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll, which is not affiliated with Vice President Harris' campaign.
- "The new social etiquette is to be like Switzerland: Why do you want that heat?"
- Overall, 33% of survey respondents said they aren't close to some family members because of differing political beliefs. That jumps to 44% of Gen Zs and 47% of Millennials, ages 28-43.
By the numbers: 58% of overall voters surveyed say who they're voting for is a private matter.
- 23% said they've lied about it to someone close to them, and 22% said they potentially would lie.
- 48% of Gen Z voters said they've lied to someone close to them about who they've voted for, followed by millennials (38%), Gen Xers (17%) and Boomers and older (6%).
- Voters across the political spectrum said they've lied about their voting: 27% of Democrats acknowledged it, while 24% of Republicans and 20% of independents did so. The survey didn't ask exactly how, why or to whom they'd lied.
Zoom in: Gerzema says the survey captures two concurrent trends.
- Polarization has become so toxic that many Americans are self-censoring or lying to preserve workplace, social and familial relationships, while bracing for the possibility of post-election unrest worse than Jan. 6, 2021.
- Younger Americans raised on smartphones tend to be more conflict-averse in both political interactions and daily settings such as work. They'd generally prefer to minimize in-person interactions with a digital mindset of, "I'd rather do it through the app." So they may rather lie about how they vote than risk a confrontation or awkward interaction.
Between the lines: The findings raise big questions about the limits and future of polling, which relies on voters giving responses reflecting their real-life political behavior.
- Polls suggest that this election has become defined by a historic gender gap, with most men favoring Trump and a majority of women backing Harris.
- Pro-Harris groups have made a major push to remind women that their ballot is private and that they don't have to support former President Trump even if other family members do.
The other side: In the Vibes survey, men (30%) were nearly twice as likely to say they lied about how they voted as women (17%).
- That could suggest some men are silent Trump backers — or secretly support Harris — while lying to men in their families or social circles who expect them to back Trump.
The big picture: Less than a week from the election, the economy/inflation/wages is still the top category on which voters say they choose candidates. That outranks abortion/reproductive rights about 2 to 1, with border/immigration the third-biggest concern.
- Economic issues heavily outranked abortion among men (57% to 21%), women (53-28), Republicans (55-13) and Democrats (55-33).
Given the option to identify their two top issues at stake, Democrats said women's/abortion rights (49%), followed by the economy/inflation (42%). Protecting democracy followed (33%).
- Republicans prioritized two issues: the economy/inflation (64%) and border/immigration (55%).
- Independent voters cited the economy/inflation (53%), women's/abortion rights (35%) and border/immigration (31%).
What we're watching: 40% of voters said they planned to wait until Election Day to vote, just in case something changes — with another 8% saying it will probably be a "gut decision" in the voting booth.
- Black voters (50%) and Gen Z voters (48%) were most likely to say they're concerned there will be voter intimidation at their local polls.
Methodology: The findings in this Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll are based on a nationally representative sample of 2,129 U.S. adults conducted online Oct. 22-24, 2024, among which 1,858 identified were registered voters.
- The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval.
- For this study, the data for the overall population is accurate to within +/- 2.4 percentage points using a 95% confidence level, and +/- 2.6 percentage points for respondents within the registered voters.
