As early voting nears in Georgia, all eyes are on whether young voters will turn out

The Atlanta Dream had a lot riding on Tuesday’s game. The WNBA team had to defeat the Chicago Sky for a shot at the playoffs.

Kayla Jones, a 22-year-old dancer with the Dream’s Hype Squad was there, andas attendees trickled into the arena, something caught her eye.

“I was dancing, and I looked to my left, and I was like, oh my gosh, there's the voting station!” she said.

After the Dream pulled off the much-needed win, Jones went over. She’s from California, but as a nursing student in Atlanta, she asked the voter organizers who were helping attendees register and check their information if she could register in Georgia this year.

“I just don't think California needs my vote as much as Georgia does,” she told NPR.

Jones is supporting Vice President Harris this fall. To her, the act of voting gives her a needed voice, which at times can feel difficult.

“Especially as a Black woman in this world, there's times where I'll say, like, I don't feel good, or I have pain, and sometimes doctors won't hear me. Or if I'm feeling unsafe and a police officer may not understand that or care,” she explained. “So my vote is something that I can say, I voted, and this was my part in making sure that I have a say in what happens in the day-to-day in society.”

Jones still is not sure if ultimately she'll vote in California or go through the process of updating her permanent address in order to vote in Georgia. Regardless, the nursing student and dancer is part of a growing and powerful voting bloc. Gen Z and millennial voters — voters under 43 — are poised to make up nearly half the eligible voting population this fall.

But it remains uncertain if young voters — who historically do not turn out as highly as older generations — will show up