According to CIRCLE, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at the University of Maryland, more than 32 million youth ages 18 to 25 will be eligible to vote in the upcoming election. If 55 percent of these young people vote – a record turnout, attained only once, in the 1972 election – more than 17.6 million ballots will be cast.
During the course of Y-Press’s campaign coverage, the many youth we’ve interviewed indicated that the country should be prepared for a record turnout from young voters. The presidential candidates also seem to be courting young people more than ever before.
Youth we’ve talked to say their generation is more engaged and inspired than generations before. Here are more of their observations on the upcoming general election.
SHAINA SOLOMON, 18, Henderson, NV: I think young people are energized by the candidates themselves, and I think they’re pretty disappointed in what’s been going on lately. I mean, we would get a lot more involvement if the draft came up as a prominent topic. It’s all about making things matter to the youth.
BETH FOSTER, 17, Charlottesville, VA: I think that we are at sort of a turning point in our country – so many young people are seeing themselves affected in a new way by what’s going on. For example, the war in Iraq, I think that a lot of kids know somebody or know somebody that knows somebody that’s been involved in the war in some way, and it’s really affected our generation.
I think a lot of kids also see themselves affected by the crumbling economy in some way or see the environment as something that we need to ensure for our generation.
JONATHAN LYKES, 17, East Cleveland, OH: I think you can definitely say people are tired of the status quo. Once people start talking about change, people start getting interested again.
NIK RITCHIE, 21, Orlando, FL: I think the Internet has drawn a lot of young people into the process because you can find any kind of information on any issue or any candidate you want just by going on the Internet and punching it in.
JENNIFER JONES, 18, Portland, OR: I know that a lot of my friends are interested in politics. But I think we want to take an active role in our government generally as a generation. And we’ve kind of pushed that and made ourselves more visible.
DAVID BURNSTEIN, 19, Weston, CT: Every campaign is always looking for some kind of bloc that can push them over the edge, and that they can guarantee a majority of that bloc. Sometimes it’s Latinos, sometimes it’s African-Americans, sometimes it’s Asians. In this election, a lot of people are saying, “Well, maybe it’ll be the youth vote.”
MEGAN WAGGONER, 17, Palmer, AK: I think that candidates are starting to see that youth are the ones who really will push their movement, and if they want to get re-elected, I mean obviously the young people are the ones who will be at the front lines for their re-election campaign.
CONOR ROGERS, 18, Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ: I believe that Republican candidates have had youth directors since 1970. It’s really the Democrats who have been waiting to catch up. The Democrats were taking the youth vote for granted. Once they realized that Republicans had youth directors and were starting to take away the youth vote by sheer force, they got on board.
