This story was published in collaboration with Headway, a new initiative at The New York Times. Chalkbeat and Headway were asking questions about the presidential election educators and high school students from February. We heard from nearly 1,000 students and 200 teachers from across the country.

In the last year, Advance electoral challenge talked to teenagers across the country about the 2024 presidential election in partnership with Chalkbeat. I’ve often asked a version of this question: What do you not know about the election but wish you had?

We have recorded over 500 responses. And while I published The 10 most frequently asked questions at the beginning of October, there was one question we couldn’t include that was at the top of the list: Who will win?

I couldn’t answer then. We cannot answer now. And this it may not be clear not even on election night. So we thought we’d ask participants to speculate: what they hope and fear will happen in the election, and how they think youth voter turnout will fare. This was the central point of last week’s challengeand the responses paint a picture of teenagers navigating a highly charged political moment. Here’s what some of them had to say.

“What do you expect to happen in this year’s presidential election?

Teenagers expect what many expect: disputed results and challenges to the outcome. Some have expressed fears of a repeat of the political violence that took place on January 6, 2021, and hope that if there are disputes, they remain legal and civil.

“I expect this year’s presidential election to be highly contested, with close results in several key swing states. I am concerned about the potential challenges of the election process and how the candidates will handle these disputes.”

– Iman Rashid, 17 years old

Senior at Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education High School in Queens

“There will likely be many incidents of protests, unrest and controversy at various polling stations and an increase in general radicalism regardless of the outcome.”

— Sophia Sun, 16 years old

Junior at Skyline High School in Sammamish, Washington

“I expect the votes to be challenged to some extent, but hopefully only through the legal system.”

— Will Palmer, 18

Freshman at American University in Washington, DC

Swing states they were also a big theme. Our respondents anticipate that just tens of thousands of votes in key states could play a critical role in determining the outcome of the election. But some expect traditionally red states like North Carolina to turn blue, while others predict more conservative swings in Arizona and Nevada over issues like immigration. About a quarter of our respondents expect Donald Trump to prevail in the election, while about 70% anticipate a Harris victory.

‘What do you hope will happen in this year’s presidential election?’

I’ve heard hopes for both a Democratic and a Republican victory, though as Harvard Youth Poll found in a survey of likely voters under 30, the majority of our survey respondents prefer Kamala Harris. The prospect of electing the first female president is particularly appealing to several respondents in our non-scientific sample. But overall, many of the teenagers expressed hope for a peaceful transfer of power, regardless of who wins.

“I hope that whatever happens, the US can recover as a united people after the election. Political division is tiresome and pointless.”

– Lucas Robbins, 17 years old

Senior at Mandela International Magnet School in Santa Fe, New Mexico

“I believe this election will increase youth engagement in future elections as the energy that youth have brought to campaigning, canvassing, phone banking, sign waving, rally participation, social media campaigning and more has really demonstrated the passion that young people have. are beginning to develop for politics.”

— Isabelle Enriques, 16 years old

Junior at Mililani High School in Mililani, Hawaii

“What do you fear will happen in this year’s presidential election?”

Anxiety about disorders is strong. Teenagers vividly remember the violence of recent years, such as the January 6 riot at the Capitol and the 2020 protests over the killing of George Floyd, and fear that these types of events could happen again.

“I fear that we are seeing a level of unrest similar to or even greater than what happened in 2020 with the killing of George Floyd. This election is shaping up to be the most polarizing election of my lifetime, and I fear that people will be hurt by it. The assassination attempt was scary for me and I’m afraid it’s the new normal.”

— Raluchi Nzelibe, 16 years old

Junior at the Latin School of Chicago in Chicago

Respondents also worry about a deeper erosion of democratic norms. Several teenagers told us that they feel that if the election results are contested, or if misinformation spreads uncheckedconfidence in democratic stability could weaken further.

“I fear political violence more than anything else. Many of my friends are probably more afraid than I am, but if the system starts to be challenged in EVERY election, what was a problem in one year could become the end of democracy.”

—Will Palmer

Voting now and in the future

The 2020 election saw the third-highest turnout among 18-29-year-olds since the voting age was lowered to 18, and nearly three-quarters of our respondents expect turnout in among young people to grow this year. One reason, they said, is social media.

“With how big a factor social media is in our lives (and the likelihood that it will stop being slim), I think that in every election, young people will be more involved. They have easier access to more information so they can see the effects of certain policies and the actions of each candidate.”

— Keener Linder, 17

Senior at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, North Carolina

“I think this age demographic cares a lot about activism and how our society is progressing. I’ve seen the negative effects so far in terms of political leaders and most, if not all, people around me want to make a change in some way.”

— Nikki Hatzopoulos, 18

Freshman at Fordham University in New York

But it is not just memes. It’s also the stake. Many teenagers told us that they feel that this election will greatly affect their future and the future of their family.

“I think with the stakes now, with minorities being targeted and reproductive freedoms being targeted, a lot of young voters are going to stand up and make their voices heard on these issues.”

– Zack Fein, 18

Freshman at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey

What’s next?

With this final set of questions, we wrap up the weekly Headway and Chalkbeat Election Challenge question posts. If you missed a week or want to learn more, now is the time to go back and finish. Here are the questions I asked:

But don’t log out just yet; more to come. After the election challenge, we plan to check back with our respondents to see how their expectations, hopes and fears have evolved.