ORLANDO, Fla. — Millions of young Floridians find themselves eligible to vote this election year, and groups are working to make sure they know how to register and vote for the first time. 

Data from Tufts Circle research found that with more of Gen Z aging into the electorate, young voters could make up more than a fifth of voters who will decide the presidential election.

Several groups are reaching out to voters, including younger voters, to encourage their participation in the election and, in some cases, a vote for a specific amendment, agenda or candidate. 

Devon Murphy-Anderson helped create Mi Vecino, which means “my neighbor” in Spanish, to strengthen the Democratic party’s outreach to Hispanic voters. She says past efforts by the party weren’t working.

“Red alarm after red alarm of Hispanic communities really shifting to the right, and we weren’t investing with that face-to-face outreach with people,” said Murphy-Anderson.

Midway through a long day of canvassing for votes in Orange County, Murphy-Anderson took a moment to share and update on Mi Vecino’s progress.

“We hit our 135,000th door this morning,” announced Murphy-Anderson.

It’s a milestone in the group’s slog towards election day. Their mission is to reach as many voters as possible.

Young voters could be a game-changer in the upcoming election.

“When Kamala became the top of the ticket, we saw this qualitatively on the ground more engagement from youth voters, more people who are willing to talk with us, under the age of 35, on the doorstep,” said Murphy-Anderson.

Young voters are looking for solutions to issues they’re facing. 

“Our generation can’t afford homes, we’re getting married later, we can’t afford children, and when we’re talking with young voters at Mi Vecino, we’re trying to connect those policies with our values, and with a candidate,” said Murphy-Anderson.

Austin Buholtz leads the Central Florida Young Republicans. He says young people want leaders who can help create more job opportunities.

“One of the things that frustrates a lot of young people is getting their foot in the door at a lot of places,” said Buholtz. “Things are very competitive, and I know a lot of people want experience and so people are champing at the bit to get experience and learn what it takes to make a good living in this country.”

Buholtz says his own economic experience is what got him into politics.

“Once I went to college and saw how much buying groceries was, or what the price is to pay the rent, you also wonder what policies are affecting what’s going on in the world,” said Buholtz. 

Buholtz mentions that part of his efforts are dedicated to challenging the perceptions people have of the Republican party.

“There’s a lot of old people in the GOP, and that’s sometimes a detractor for people - reaching out and especially young people,” said Buholtz. “And so we want to show the GOP is not just for older folks, but for everybody.”

Buholtz says reaching younger voters can be more challenging.

“You’ve got to reach people where they are, and I think a lot of young people these days are on social media,” said Buholtz. “So, we have 16 clubs across the state of Florida and we are reaching out to all of them via social media, via going to events that young people are at, going to colleges, going to their campuses.”

Mi Vecino is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in a year-round effort to engage voters, including young voters. The idea is to build a long-standing relationship with them.

“We do all of these things that are not political, so that we can strengthen relationships with people, so that when we come back and ask them for our vote, they know who we are, they can trust us,” said Murphy-Anderson.