Ingrid Alg-Liening is voting because she has watched her family, friends, classmates, and many Americans fall victim to gun violence throughout her life. As a first-time voter who has spent years advocating for gun violence prevention efforts, she is more than ready to head to the polls in November.
Alg-Liening is the Executive Director of March for Our Lives Iowa, a youth gun violence prevention group that sparked a nationwide movement after the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 students and staff dead.
As a student at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Alg-Liening has seen how gun violence affected her community firsthand.
Roosevelt High School faced a shooting at an after-prom event in May 2022, leaving three injured and the community in shock. At this year’s graduation, in May 2024, gunshots fired left one person in the hospital with minor injuries.
“We’re really reaching a passing point where people’s lives are at stake,” she said. “If we don’t do anything, more people—more communities—are going to be affected by this.”
Despite being unable to vote until this year, Alg-Liening spent her high school years advocating for gun violence prevention policies and lobbying at the Iowa State Capitol for red flag laws, safe storage for guns, and domestic violence prevention, while organizing statewide events and registering people to vote.
“I just think that I would be doing a disservice if I didn’t do anything about it,” Alg-Liening said.
The national March for Our Lives organization endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president in July, signifying a major step forward for the typically bipartisan group. Alg-Liening supported the decision, saying another Trump presidency would only reverse the organization’s state and national progress.
“We have never before endorsed candidates because we want to work with all parties, all legislators,” Alg-Liening explained. “In this election, however, we believe it’s extremely important and necessary that voters know what is at stake.”
According to Everytown for Gun Safety, 58% of American adults say they or someone they care for have experienced gun violence. More than 120 Americans are killed every day by guns.
When it’s time for Alg-Liening to fill out her ballot, she said there’s no competition.
“There are many instances in which we can see (former President Donald Trump) would very negatively impact gun policy,” she said. “He’s done it before, and he’s promising to do it even more if he were reelected.”
Alg-Liening said she will be voting for candidates that will enact change, and Harris—along with her chosen running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz—is promising to do just that.
“Sometimes policymakers really underestimate the voice we have,” she said, referring to the youth vote. “We want a seat at the table and we want to be heard. We’re the ones most affected by gun violence; it’s in our schools, it’s in our homes, it’s everywhere we go.”
For people unsure of how to prepare for the election, Alg-Liening recommends voters do extensive research to vote for policy, rather than party.
“Our lives are at stake,” she said. “We’re not just voting for the person we like the best, we’re voting for someone who possibly could impact whether we would be affected by gun violence.”
