Voting turnout on the rise

Young voters, ages 18-25, cast a record 6.5 million votes in the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries earlier this year according to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE). That’s nearly double the turnout in 2000 and the first time,since the voting age was lowered to 18 in 1971, that the youth turnout has increased for three consecutive elections.

“We have definitely seen a huge increase in the number of students interested in getting involved,” said Jason White, president of the GCSU chapter of College Republicans. “This is an important election year, and there are strong feelings on both sides. With the announcement of Sarah Palin as VP and the election nearing, people are starting to get more fired up, especially among the young conservatives to get out and vote and work for their candidate.”

GCSU students Melvin Lattany and Ryan Cheek admit they haven’t always had a strong interest in politics or thought they mattered much in its process, but they both agree that is starting to change.

“The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve felt like our vote doesn’t always count. But I think that may be starting to change,” said Lattany, 23. “I was into politics before, but this election has raised my interest quite a bit.”

Cheek, 21, echoed those thoughts.

“This is pretty much my first election that I’ve really paid attention to. It’s the first one I’ve gotten to vote in, so I think it’s probably more relevant to me now, even though I’m still in school. I’ve definitely paid more attention,” he said.

But despite the increase in turnout, political apathy among young people is still prevalent. Some young voters, especially college students, say they are simply too busy and feel that voting is outdated, registration is too much of a nuisance and voting absentee isn’t worth the time. Others are simply turned off by what they perceive as political bickering and a lack of interest in them by the candidates.

As a result, many organizations are making efforts to attract more young people into politics, particularly through the internet.

Every Republican and Democratic candidate who ran in the 2008 presidential primaries had an active Web site and most created group pages on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace along with channels on YouTube. Many say this helps candidates address the youth conversationally.

White said his group holds numerous events to spur political conversation among students.

“We will be helping with a mock presidential debate and co-hosting a U.S. Congressional debate,” he said. “We will also be holding the 9/11 Never Forget Project, Students 4 McCain events such as rallies, campaign trips to help candidates campaign and events such as Penny Wars, membership drives, and an annual fund raising Christmas Dinner Banquet with guest speakers and dignitaries.”

Lauren Lawson, president of the GCSU chapter of Young Democrats of America said her organization is also taking an active role.

“We have had both an increase in turn-out as well as an increase in our organization,” Lawson wrote in an e-mail. “We now have more people in attendance at our meetings and added almost 40 new names to our email list. We are doing voter registration, holding a debate and convention watch parties, campaigning Get Out the Vote (GOTV) programs, community service and social events throughout the semester.”

Lawson credits this election with increasing student interest in politics.

“I believe that students are more interested in politics, voting and our organization this semester because of this upcoming presidential election. This historic election has received a lot of media coverage and, I think, opened up a dialog,” Lawson said. “Also, many people have been dissatisfied with politics and our leaders the past few years and see this election as a time of change and hope for the future.”

GCSU political science professor Kathleen Martin said one of the big reasons for the increased interest from young voters is their realization that there are many issues relevant to them.

“There is no doubt that the issues facing us today are of grave importance. For those who take the time to pay attention to the issues, this is an incredibly important election. To name just a few, I feel that health care/insurance, student loans for college students, increasing unemployment and our dilemma in Iraq are some important issues for students,” Martin said.

As for those issues, and the presidential race between Illinois Senator Barack Obama and Arizona Senator John McCain, Lattany and Cheek are supporting different candidates.

“I really like Obama. I think he’s a true agent of change and that’s something I’m advocating,” said Lattany. “A lot of people are tired of things going the same way. I don’t think Iraq has been handled as well as it could have.”

Lattany added he thinks health care should be the primary issue in the election.

“I think its very important that we come up with a way to get everybody in this country health care. I work at a pharmacy and I deal with people that can’t afford it all the time,” Lattany said.
Cheek, however, is throwing his support behind McCain.

“I think he is definitely more experienced than Obama. I don’t think there’s anyone I would trust more in keeping our country safe. I admire his service to his country,” said Cheek. “I think that winning the war on terrorism is extremely important and probably the biggest thing we need to do. And I think McCain is the guy who can lead us in getting that done.”

But regardless of who wins the election, it has sparked an interest among many young and first time voters.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 26 2008. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry