KidNuz Convos: Engaging future voters

(in 2024), 9%... didn't know how to vote. 11% forgot to vote and 35% didn't care to vote. So those are the top three reasons I feel that young people aren't really engaging.

Mark Curtis

Welcome to another edition of KidNuz Convos. I'm your host, Mark Curtis, also a member of the KidNuz Board of Directors. You know, one of the goals of our organization is to get young people more engaged in current events and news, and then talk about those things with their moms and dads and their teachers at school and with their fellow classmates.

To that end, I want to introduce a young lady who is doing something right on those goals, and that is Ella Dietz. She is a 15-year-old student in Austin, Texas, and she founded the nonprofit organization Vote On. Ella, thanks for being here.

Ella Dietz

Thank you for having me. I'm so excited.

Mark

You're a regular listener of KidNuz and you reached out to us because you thought you might have a topic, being your nonprofit, that we want to talk about and that's absolutely what we're gonna do today.

In a nutshell, what is Vote On? What's its purpose? What does it do?

Ella

So Vote On is a student- led, nationwide nonprofit, and it's focused on getting young people more engaged in democracy. So, you know, giving them the tools to participate primarily by registering them to vote. Students can start their Vote On clubs at schools nationwide. So if you're a student around the nation in high school or college, you could start a Vote On club at your school to register your peers to vote, and also just get them participated in Democracy more.

Mark

That's fascinating because those are some of the very goals we have here at KidNuz and so we hope we can help each other.

Why did you start it?

Ella

You know, it's a fun story. I've always been super involved in politics from a young age. It's something I've been super interested in... I've been on student government for the past few years, and it was during last year's election, I was running as a candidate and I noticed that a lot of my friends didn't vote in the student government election. And it was super surprising to me because, you know, electing student government officials helps figure out policies for your school and especially as one of their friends who was running. I did end up winning the election, but I think it was a huge problem that I noticed and it also goes far on to real life elections and governments and yeah, so that was just a gap I noticed and I wanted to change it.

Mark

Without giving out my real age, I will just say I was alive when the US Constitution was amended, when the voting age was 21 and it was lowered to 18, mostly because people argued, (as) this was during the Vietnam War, if you send a young man or young woman off to war, they ought to be able to vote at the age of 18.

So that got changed. But then after that, hardly anybody voted. Participation between 18 year olds and 29 year olds, I think was what, 42% in the last election?

Ella

Yes, that's correct. 42% registered to vote and only 47% of those people actually ended up casting a ballot.

Mark

Why do you think that is and how are you trying to fix that?

Ella

I think it's for a bunch of different reasons, but a bunch of... most of them are either they don't know how to vote or they just don't care. They don't think that one vote will make a difference. That's a phrase I heard a lot in student government. They're like, "oh, one vote won't make a difference in the election," which was really, this is funny because for the vice president election, one of my friends won by a singular vote.

So that vote changed the entire demographic, which kind of proved to them like, oh, my voice does like really matter, and my vote does make a difference.

Mark

I've seen a county commission race where they had to flip a coin to decide the winner because it was tied... and a tax increase that got passed by one vote.

So votes do matter.

Ella

Yes, they do. And 9%, you know, last election in 2024, they didn't know how to vote. 11% forgot to vote and 35% didn't care to vote. So those are the top three reasons I feel that young people aren't really engaging in voting elections.

I think it's very important to mention that Vote On is super nonpartisan, so we're inclusive of all different political ideologies

Mark

Let me give out your website because it's really informative.

It is VoteOnEdu.org. I've been on there.... You don't want this just to be a national organization. You want chapters in every state in every school. Tell us about that. 

Ella

That is a really big goal for us, and we want to have at least 1 million first-time voters registered in the next few years. And we want chapters in all 50 states. So if you are an approaching high school student or current high school student or college student, we would love to have more chapters in states around the nation. And you can do that by going on our website, VoteOnEdu.org, and sending us a quick email expressing your interest.

And yeah, we're really looking for more participants because this is a big problem in our society and we would love more people to be a part of it.

Mark

There's a button right at the top right on your website, "Start A Chapter." You just click on it.. and it'll take you where you need to go.

It's real easy to do. We did one of these convos a couple of months ago about lowering the age, the voting age from 18 to 16. Is that something you support or people your age support? I know there's kind of a national push to make that happen and some localities like in New Jersey and Maryland have done that for local elections.

Ella

Wow. Yeah, I have done research on this. I actually do this thing called a brain lift, and it's where I write all my research. I do research every day and I write a bunch of statistics down. And I do think there's a lot of sides to this debate. I think since teens are able to drive at 16, I feel like voting age should be lowered to 17 because it'll make it a topic for students to talk about in high school.

You know, my friends and I sometimes we talk about politics and even if none of us are like super educated in the topic, it still comes up in conversation because we're surrounded by each other every single day.

Mark

What are the issues kids your age are talking about? What is at the forefront of the things you're concerned about?

Ella

Anything from like climate issues to basically the big breaking news on the internet. So we've been talking about, I guess Greenland and Venezuela, anything like that. And, I think it really helps that we're surrounded in the same environment together and we can kind of discuss political issues and that's a big way of getting more youth engaged.

Mark

Well, I think it's neat because the issues you just mentioned are the issues my fellow adults are talking about. I mean, the news really kind of frames the conversation and sets the agenda. So we're talking about things on the same page as, as young people your age, 15 years old and 16 and so forth. You know, one of the things that impressed me about you is you launched a non-profit at the age of 15. I mean, to me that's, I think when I was 15 ... that's a scary idea.

How difficult was it to do and what are the obstacles and how do you overcome them?

Ella

It was something I was super passionate about and it's definitely been a long journey. I mean, I started a few months ago, so it's all pretty new, but it's been going really well. It's very hard to navigate the political industry on your own and the nonprofit industry.

I mean, of course I have support from my peers and my parents, but it's something I've been just super passionate about, so that's helped, I guess, get through the process. And you know, Gen Z is constantly surrounded by social media. We're in the height of like so much change that's happening in the world, and we're gonna run the future.

So it's really important to get more young people educated.

Mark

Well, I wanna remind our listeners that they're listening to KidNuz Convos on KidNuz.org. Our guest is Ella Dietz. She founded the nonprofit Vote On, trying to get kids engaged and get ready to vote when they become of age, when they become adults..... She's a student in Austin, Texas. Great place, great state. Very political. You're in the state capital.

Ella

Yes.

Mark

That's great. Let me ask you something. One of the things you wanted to talk about and you get asked about by kids your age and a little older, what are the differences between Vote On and what was a very popular and remains a very popular podcast, Turning Point USA, which was founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

Ella

I think it's very important to mention that Vote On is super nonpartisan, so we're inclusive of all different political ideologies and yeah, I feel like Vote On could be a great option at schools to have because it's super inclusive and we promote youth civic engagement for all.

Mark

At KidNuz, we're nonpartisan as well. We want to give both sides to the stories. That's, as a professional journalist for almost 50 years, that's what I'm supposed to do. Don't take sides, but give people the information they can use to make their own informed decision.

And I, I really commend you for that. By the way. How have adults reacted to this, not just your fellow peers, but the adults, your mom and dad, aunts and uncles, teachers at school? I mean, what are they saying? Do they critique and say, "Hey, maybe you should talk about this instead of that?" I mean. What kind of support and advice are you getting?

Ella

Yes, I'm getting a ton of support from just adults on the internet who are following my journey, as well as teachers and parents. My parents and my teachers are also super. They keep me accountable. I feel like they encourage me to post a lot on social media, and they tell me, they give me real, honest feedback, so that's super helpful, especially as a young person in this industry.

So I really appreciate that.

Mark

One of the things I'm interested in, and I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves here, but you ran for student government, you were elected. Do you envision yourself running for public office as an adult? Maybe 10, 15 years down the road?

Ella

Yes. In the future I have considered getting into the political industry or becoming an entrepreneur.

Those are two of my career potential goals in the future that I've thought of. Still deciding. I'm, as you said, I'm only 15, but, yeah, those are some things I'm super interested in. You know, as a young kid, I used to go to Girls In Politics conferences a lot and do a mock election and run for president and that was always so fun to me. I would memorize all the presidents in order. I just had a ton of books in my room about that.

Mark

Well, tell me how, how did you find out about a KidNuz again? You reached out to us and said, "I'm available for interviews and we have some kind of parallel goals here, the two organizations." How did you find out about us?

Ella

My family uses Spotify and we came across your podcast on there and we listen to it quite often. My brother's in second grade, so it's really helpful for him to understand news in a kid friendly way. So thank you for providing that for us. It's been super great and we can understand like fun news as well, and political news on the car rides to school.

Mark

I'm like you and your brother. I got engaged with the news as a very young person. When I was four and a half years old, that's the year President Kennedy was assassinated and, you know, there was nothing else on tv. And then of course, the following year, President Johnson, who assumed the office had to run for reelection.

And that was a big deal when I was five and a half. So at a very young age, I got hooked on it, not only the politics part, about the broadcasting part and the civic engagement, and I could talk issues when I was five, six years old

Ella

That's awesome. That's the goal for Vote On, get a bunch of young people more interested and educated and talking about these important politics that affect their life.

Mark

Aside from what you do on your website and in the organization, what do you and your fellow students talk about at lunchtime, over the lunch table at school and how much of that is involving politics and current events and so forth.

Ella

I would say politics comes up every other day.

I mean, we do talk about a lot of, you know, kid stuff like memes or what we're gonna do over the weekend. But politics do come up quite often in our conversation actually. And I think it's because I try to enforce it as well. And a lot of my friends actually stay updated on the news. I actually just moved to Austin this summer from Hawaii.

I'm from Hawaii, and President Obama actually graduated from my old school in Hawaii. And I noticed that a lot of my friends in Hawaii, I went to a much larger school there, so it was kind of split. A lot of people were engaged in politics, some of them weren't, and now that I go to a much smaller school, everyone's sort of closer so we can discuss more of those political topics more often.

Mark

I'll tell you one of the things that will happen. I remember when I turned 16 and I got a part-time job and I was working 15, 20 hours a week making $4 an hour was minimum wage back then. And you, you work 20 hours at $4 an hour. You go, I'm going to get a paycheck this week of $80.

Well, they hand you your check and you look at it. And you're like, oh, what's this FICA, this federal tax deduction and social security and state taxes, and all of a sudden, what was $80 left me with maybe 55 bucks or 50 bucks. That's where young people get engaged. You're going to see your peers go through the same thing next year when you and, and your friends get jobs and you're hoping.... my point is, if they're taking taxes out and you're helping fund the government, shouldn't you also have a say in who runs the government? Who's in the government? What issues should be addressed?

Ella

Yes. Exactly. I 100-percent think that as well. I feel like life really hits you. Well obviously later in life, but especially when you turn 16 because you do get opportunities, like you get a job or you get your driver's license and you really start engaging with government activities and that really opens up your mind.

You know, I'm still 15 but a lot of my friends are 16 because I'm sort of young for my grade. It's really cool to see all my friends start engaging in the government, and it's really funny to talk about with them because we're all going through it together.

Mark

Have any of your other friends taken your inspiration and started their own nonprofits or anybody talking about it? I mean, what you did is very unique, but it's happening more and more among teenagers.

Ella

Yes. My best friend, she's located somewhere else. We don't live in the same state, but she's starting a Vote On chapter at her school, and I really appreciate her support and she's super interested in it.

I'm so excited to see that chapter come in this year.

Mark

I'm curious, has any politician or elected official approached you and say, "Hey, I'd like to speak to your group." I mean, because they're all out there. They've got to cultivate voters too. And it would seem to me, if I was a politician and I was looking for up and coming young voters, I might want to come and address your group or your nonprofit or yeah, do a podcast on your website or something.

Has that happened yet, or no?

Ella

No. That's a goal in the future though. We just started three months ago and yeah, I'm really hoping to get really involved with a bunch of political figures. We do have some followers with a large following as well, but they aren't exactly in the political industry. So I would love to connect with political figures in the future.

Mark

Alright, I want to sum it up here and let you have a chance to make your final pitch again. Tell us what Vote On is all about and what you are asking young people your age to do in terms of getting involved.

Ella

Vote On is a student- led, nationwide organization, empowering young people to vote and participate in democracy.

And we'd love for you to start a chapter at your school if you're eligible. Visit our website, VoteOnEdu.org, and reach out to us. And we're always looking for new chapter presidents.

Mark

Well, as an adult and as a parent, it's nice to see young people like you getting civically engaged and getting involved in the electoral process and current events and so forth. I really commend you. Again, I want to thank Ella Dietz, the founder of Vote On. It's a nonprofit and it's really fascinating. So go on the website, VoteOnEdu.org. That's VoteOnEdu.org. Ella, thanks for being with us on KidNuz Convos.

Ella

Thank you so much, Mark.

Mark

You're very welcome and keep listening to KidNuz.

Ella

I will. Thank you.

Mark

Alright, we want to thank our audience for joining us as well. We'll see you next time.

To hear the interview, please listen here.