[“3 things happening in NC” is Cardinal & Pine’s weekly guide to the people, storylines, and events driving the news this week in North Carolina.]
Below, we have an update on the North Carolina legislature’s controversial election bill, as well as the so-called “Grammys of Gospel,” but first:
According to a study from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, Gen Z voters have been coming alive.
In the 2022 midterm elections—the first midterms in which Gen Z voters made up the entire age 18-24 cohort of potential voters—Gen Z voted at a higher rate than Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers did in their first midterm elections.
This is good news, of course, as the 28.4% of voters aged 18-24 who cast a ballot in 2022 marked a significant bump from the 23% of Millennials who voted in 2006 and 23.5% of Gen Xers who voted in 1990.
The 31% of people under age 30 who voted in 2022 made for the third-highest youth turnout in a midterm cycle in the past 50 years (the all-time high was in 2018).
And yet that’s still under a third of people who could vote that actually did. That’s why Voters of Tomorrow exists, and the organization will be in North Carolina this week to try to rally young people in the lead-up to this year’s midterm elections. It’s one of three things happening in North Carolina this week that are worth checking out or keeping an eye on.
Nation’s largest Gen Z led voter engagement group hosts midterm summit in NC
With more than 11,000 members across 25+ states, Voters of Tomorrow is the nation’s largest Gen Z-led voter engagement organization. The organization reached more than 32 million voters in the 2024 cycle and has already committed more than $1 million this midterm cycle.
As part of its efforts to reach more than 10 million young voters this time around, Voters of Tomorrow will host a strategy summit in Raleigh this week, with elected officials, candidates, digital influencers, and others coming together to help mobilize the youth vote.
The event will include training sessions on interfaith organizing, building social media influence in your community, get-out-the-vote strategy, and other topics. Guests and featured speakers include NC Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls, Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt, Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson, and democratic socialist Colorado congressional candidate Melat Kiros, among many others.
Free for Gen Z to attend (that’s up to 29 years old), the summit will take place Thursday and Friday, Aug. 13-14, at the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel.
Stein expected to veto election bill following NC General Assembly adjournment
On Aug. 5, the NC General Assembly concluded its regular legislative business by passing an adjournment resolution, and there’s at least one bill passed before then that Gov. Josh Stein plans to veto.
The controversial House Bill 958, which would shorten early voting in primaries from 17 to 10 days and makes multiple other changes to election law including making it easier to challenge mail-in or early voting ballots, was passed on a party-line vote on Aug. 4.
“Your vote is how you make sure that your government actually works for you and your family. I will always defend your right to vote,” Stein wrote in a post on X that day. “I will veto House Bill 958 because it makes it harder for you to vote, introduces unnecessary chaos into our elections, and invites sore losers to try to overturn an election they lost.”
With no more votes likely to take place until November, lawmakers will not get a chance to override Stein’s veto and allow the bill to go into effect before the upcoming midterm elections.
Having not garnered votes from unaffiliated House reps Carla Cunningham, who voted against it, or Nasif Majeed, who was absent, it appears a veto override vote will be hard to accomplish for Republican supporters of the bill when they are ready to attempt one.
Stellar Awards—the ‘Grammys of gospel’—comes to Charlotte
Often called “the Grammys of gospel,” the 41st annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards will take place at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Saturday.
Hosted by an icon of the industry, Kirk Franklin, the awards show celebrates the year’s best in gospel music. This year’s theme of “Feels Like Home” nods to the fact that this is Charlotte’s first time hosting the awards show despite its rich gospel history and strong contemporary scene.
Established in 1985, the Stellar Awards broadcast on BET reaches a combined audience of more than 3.6 million television viewers nationwide, with millions more engaging across digital platforms, making it one of the most influential platforms in gospel music.
Billed as Stellar Plus Week, related events such as concerts, masterclasses, panel discussions and comedy shows are scheduled throughout Charlotte from Wednesday through Friday.
