GREENSBORO, N.C. — More than 41 million members of Generation Z will be eligible to cast ballots in November, including 8.3 million reaching voting age this year, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University. 

What You Need To Know

  • Over 41 million members of Generation Z are eligible to vote in November's general election

  • Taylor Swift’s Instagram post last week encouraging fans to register to vote garnered more than 330,000 clicks

  • "Not Just Headlines" podcaster Lily Oatis is encouraging Gen Z to learn more about candidates and the issues that matter to them before voting

Celebrities like Taylor Swift and Elon Musk have been encouraging more people to cast ballots, potentially engaging that Gen Z audience.

Swift’s post of a voting registration link on Tuesday got more than 330,000 people to visit the vote.gov website by Wednesday — some for the first time.

Recent high school graduate Lily Oatis began a podcast to help Gen Z learn more about candidates.

She said she started "Not Just Headlines" after feeling overwhelmed with information from traditional media sources.

“The idea came to me last year, last June. Around that time, I was kind of getting intimidated about politics, but it was like I couldn’t escape it, so I was kind of like I am going to do this and it has just blown up ever since,” Oatis said while editing an upcoming episode. 

She said the podcast is a space for youth to find nonpartisan information about the issues that most impact them.  

“The goal is to engage young people — specifically Gen Z — in local politics, and so one of the ways that I actually decided to do that this year is interview local candidates,” she said. 

A recent Harvard study found that celebrity endorsements don't really move the needle in terms of candidate support but do help increase overall voter turnout.

Oatis said Gen Z will make their choices based on issues most relevant to them.

“It was Vietnam for the college students back then, and of course we have a war going on right now, so I do see college students getting engaged with that on their own campuses and then when ... Roe v. Wade, stuff like that gets overturned," she said. "It really brings young people's attention to things like that." 

More than 7.5 million North Carolinians are registered to vote.

The deadline to register to vote in the November general election in North Carolina is 5 p.m. Oct. 11.