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NextGen Roundtable: Decision 2026 

July 8-11, 2026 | Washington, D.C.

Close Up | Stanford University Deliberative Democracy Lab
Hoover Institution | Generation Lab

 

We convened a nationwide deliberation of first-time voters.

When the midterm elections arrive on November 3, 2026, young Americans will face more than one important choice. Can they surpass the record 28 percent nationwide turnout among 18-29-year-olds in the 2018 midterms? Will young voters make decisions that are thoughtfully considered and informed by a wide range of perspectives other than their own? 

From July 8-11, 2026, Close Up, the Stanford University Deliberative Democracy Lab, Generation Lab, and the Hoover Institution’s Center for Revitalizing American Institutions hosted NextGen Roundtable: Decision 2026, a large-scale experiment in democracy launched through our work on 2024’s America in One Room: The Youth Vote. We convened a nationally representative and scientific sample of first-time voters from across the country to listen to each other and deliberate key policy issues in a reasoned and mutually respectful way.   

Stay tuned until September, when we’ll release our nationwide impact report on youth opinions, priorities, and behaviors, and the effects and promise of deliberative dialogue. 

 

About the Partners 

About Close Up
About the Stanford University Deliberative Democracy Lab
About Generation Lab
About the Hoover Institution's Center for Revitalizing American Institutions