48% of Gen Z voters said they’ve lied to someone close to them about who they’ve voted for

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According to the latest survey by The Harris Poll, half of Gen Z voters — and 1 in 4 U.S. voters overall — have lied to people close to them about who they’re voting for.

Voters 18-27 who came of age during the hyper-polarized Trump era appear to be among the most sensitive to perceived pressure and judgment from friends or loved ones.

“There’s a new privacy emerging here, where it’s far more convenient to either lie or not talk about it,” said John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll, which is not affiliated with Vice President Harris’ campaign.

“The new social etiquette is to be like Switzerland: Why do you want that heat?”

Overall, 33% of survey respondents said they aren’t close to some family members because of differing political beliefs. That jumps to 44% of Gen Zs and 47% of Millennials, ages 28-43.

By the numbers: 58% of overall voters surveyed say who they’re voting for is a private matter.

23% said they’ve lied about it to someone close to them, and 22% said they potentially would lie.
48% of Gen Z voters said they’ve lied to someone close to them about who they’ve voted for, followed by millennials (38%), Gen Xers (17%) and Boomers and older (6%).

Voters across the political spectrum said they’ve lied about their voting: 27% of Democrats acknowledged it, while 24% of Republicans and 20% of independents did so. The survey didn’t ask exactly how, why or to whom they’d lied.

Gerzema says the survey captures two concurrent trends.

Polarization has become so toxic that many Americans are self-censoring or lying to preserve workplace, social and familial relationships, while bracing for the possibility of post-election unrest worse than Jan. 6, 2021.

Younger Americans raised on smartphones tend to be more conflict-averse in both political interactions and daily settings such as work. They’d generally prefer to minimize in-person interactions with a digital mindset of, “I’d rather do it through the app.” So they may rather lie about how they vote than risk a confrontation or awkward interaction.

Gen Zers who follow politics and media trend toward Kamala Harris