SAVE THE DATE: Youth-Led Candidate Debate

📆 Sunday, September 7, 2025

🕑 Doors Open: 2:00 PM | Debate Begins: 2:30 PM

Hi, it’s Karina back with more happenings from Columbus Stand Up!

We’re excited to be hosting our second youth-led candidate debate ahead of the 2025 general election. This event puts young people at the center of the conversation, giving us the mic to question candidates for one open Columbus City Council seat and three Columbus City School Board seats.

I won’t lie, getting young people engaged in local politics is tough, but also rewarding. As a college student, I see firsthand how disconnected many of my peers are from civic engagement. And I get it, a lot is going on in our lives. But at the same time, I hear so many of us talking about issues we care about without realizing that our vote is an extension of our voice. Supporting candidates who are ready to fight for the issues that matter to you is one of the first steps to real change. That’s why this candidate debate is such a great opportunity to get informed and make your vote count.

If you’re under 25, or know someone who is, who wants to help put together the debate, we’d love to have you involved, email us at [email protected].

Young people (ages 18–34) make up a growing share of the voting population, but we are consistently underrepresented at the polls.

🔸 In 2024, only 15% of all voters were under 30, despite making up 20% of the voting-age population.

🔸 Only 16% of young adults voted in all three recent elections (2020, 2022, 2024), while 41% didn’t vote in any of them.

🔸 After turning out in record numbers for the 2020 election (53%), youth turnout plummeted to 27% in the next midterm.

When youth don't vote, priorities, like education, jobs, housing, and justice, fall off the agenda. In California, low youth turnout in a school funding vote (Prop 13) may have cost schools billions in investment.

But when we show up? We change outcomes. Youth voters helped decide swing states in 2020, and we can do it again.

Research shows it’s not apathy, it’s systemic:

📌 Lack of civic education: Most young people are taught how government works, not how to vote or navigate a confusing ballot.

📌 Barriers to registration: Shifting state laws and early deadlines confuse first-time voters. 22% of young non-voters in 2022 said they wanted to vote but couldn’t.

📌 User error & life stress: 55% of college students made errors on registration forms. Many miss deadlines due to school, work, or personal stress.

📌 Disillusionment: 24% of youth said they didn’t vote because they didn’t like any candidates.

This event is more than just a debate, it’s a space for young people to lead, ask the hard questions, and hold power to account.

✅ Come hear from the candidates.

✅ Come represent your generation.

✅ Come build the city we deserve.

📩 Mark your calendar: Sunday, September 7, 2025

🕑 Doors at 2:00 PM | Debate starts at 2:30 PM

📍 Location TBA – Stay tuned!