At this late stage, is there anything to be done to prevent this increasingly menacing version of the Republican Party from taking control of the Senate and House of Representatives in the midterm election on Tuesday?

It’s not just Congress. There are tossup races for Governor and Secretary of State all over the country that election deniers are poised to win, as is the case in the ultra consequential swing states of Wisconsin and Nevada. 

What else does Wiscconsin and Nevada have in common? Same-day voter registration on Election Day, meaning that, until the polls close that night, any unregistered 18-year-old high school seniors or college students have the power to swing those elections.

It makes me wonder why, in this age of crisis and instability, we haven’t already normalized the idea that voting age students can and should walkout of class and to the polls on Election Day? It may be the most straightforward action to save the climate and representative democracy, while improving public access to quality health care and education; also, saving all of us from the wolf of violent authoritarianism that has stalked ever closer to our door since 2016.

In the latest CBS News Battleground Tracker Poll, their baseline model for the Tuesday midterm election predicted the Republican Party will gain 15 seats in the House of Representatives to win a 21-seat majority, to easily take back control of the chamber.

But, if Election Day sees “high turnout” among young voters and people of color, about equivalent to what happened 2018? Their estimate has Democrats actually holding on to the House of Representatives, by the closest of margins: a single seat.

Gen Z can make that other scenario a reality or beat it by: 

1. Publicizing a national voting-age student walkout to the polls on Election Day

2. Reminding 18-and-over peers to confirm their registration and proper voting ID rules for their state

3. Call out the states with same-day Election Day registration for anyone still unregistered, especially Nevada and Wisconsin, but also Michigan, Utah, Minnesota and New Hampshire

4. Leave class on Tuesday afternoon and stand in line at the polls for as long as is necessary (though lines ought to be quite short during school hours). 

What specifically is at stake?

If this type of strategy helped Democrats hold control of the House, you can take it to the bank that they would also expand their Senate majority by two seats, which would open the door to a revolutionary shift toward broadly popular policies.

Democrats would have the two additional votes they need to finally end or severely weaken the Senate filibuster, opening the legislative door for: securing national abortion access by making the Roe v. Wade decision the law of the land; further action on climate and de-carbonization; increased public education spending; further steps toward nationalized health care; DC statehood; universal childcare; voting rights and election security for easy and fair voting; a ban on extreme partisan gerrymandering and corporate “dark money” election spending; a return of the child tax credit; ethics standard and term limits for the Supreme Court; closing tax loopholes for the American oligarchy, and more.

You can add, making Election Day a new federal holiday, to that list, and students would be giving us a taste of it by walking out, an act of civil faith.

On the other hand, what happens if the Republican Party takes control of the House of Representatives, much less the Senate? It’s reasonable to expect increasing chaos, threats, violent incitement and a full-on attack against our entire democratic process and independent judiciary. The entire system may well buckle this time around. Wherever that leaves us, you can kiss the climate measures passed in the Inflation Reduction Act goodbye, along with much of the social safety net and…a hell of a lot else. As John Ganz notes, of GOP leaders and supporters, “Look, they even say it all the time—‘We’re a republic, not a democracy,’…It’s just the simple truth: They don’t want the country to be a democracy anymore. They know it. We know it.”

While we Millennials, Gen Xers and Boomers can share this idea with the politically active Zoomers in our lives, we don’t have the power here, they do. The walkout would come down to Gen Z feeling the potential, taking control, and spreading the word in whatever way makes sense for them. 

This definitely falls in the category of solutions that seem all too obvious, yet don’t happen or sufficiently catch fire for whatever reason. Either way, the opening for change is right there, it can happen and the chance to trigger a generational shift to an exciting, newly creative, better, and more compassionate world is well worth missing a few hours of class.