Every day, I walk past the Duck Pond on the way to Dane Smith, and I see the table.
There I see students with the marker-drawn signs pumping people up about voting, and the token, sandwich-board-wearing guy inviting people to follow him to the table and register.
It’s cool, but I wonder if it works.
According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement’s website, America enjoyed a 3.4 million increase of 18-29-year-old voters in the 2008 presidential election.
In 2004, 18-29-year-old voters turned out in record numbers, after a historically declining trend. CIRCLE speculates that Sept. 11 attacks led to the spike in numbers.
Do we need high-casualty terrorist attacks to encourage young voters? Do we have to have that kind of patriotic
motivation to perform our democratic duty?
“Young Voters in the 2008 Election,” an article by the Pew Research Center, reported that 45 percent of the young people in 2008 voted for the Democratic Party, compared to 29 percent for the Republican Party. This split was nearly even in 2000.
“Young voters are more diverse racially and ethnically than older voters and more secular in their religious orientation,” the article reads. “These characteristics, as well as the climate in which they have come of age politically, incline them not only toward Democratic Party affiliation, but also toward greater support of activist
government, greater opposition to the war in Iraq, less social conservatism and a greater willingness to describe themselves as liberal politically.”
Why such diversity in the youth vote?
It’s because young people listen to the issues, while my parents vote democrat because they have always done that. That exposure is easy to generate in a college environment, and in that environment, it’s even easier to vote.
More polling stations are set up closer to campuses; more absent ballot voting options are available, and if students want information on voting centers, or want to register, they probably have an on-campus, sandwich-board-wearing guy they can follow.
The young vote is important for many reasons, and it’s been effective in recent elections. Your vote counts, and voting works — so just do it.
