Youth voter turnout high; some expected different results
by Adam Goldstein
The Metropolitan
In this year’s highly charged and hotly contested electoral atmosphere,
expectations were high for the youth vote.
Both sides competitively courted potential voters between the ages of
18 and 29 as political activism found its niche in popular culture.
Poll results indicate that the mass encouragement worked. At least 20.9
million Americans under the age of 30 voted in this year’s election,
a national jump of nearly 10 percent from 2000.
The youth vote increased even more in the 10 most competitive “battleground
states,” where turnout jumped 13 percentage points from 2000 to
peak at 64 percent. This trend mirrored the higher general turnout in
these coveted electoral battlegrounds.
“I think what’s interesting at this point is the actual census
data,” said David Schwartz, Auraria Campus Organizer for the New
Voters Project.
51.6 percent of eligible young voters turned out this year, a number
that fell below some expectations.
“The voter turnout among college students our age was low,”
said Danielle Robinson, vice chair of the Colorado College Republicans.
“It was higher than in past elections, but not exactly the turnout
that was expected.”
Despite the record number of young voters in this year’s election,
the high turnout of all voters and the ultimate defeat of John Kerry undermined
the impact of their contribution.
The results of the election challenged a widespread assumption that young
voters would follow a predetermined pattern.
“I think people associated the young voter turnout with a large
Kerry turnout, which is a misconception,” Schwartz said. “The
young people are split, too.”
The increased political activism among young voters made them a commodity
for pollsters and partisans alike, especially in the decisive electoral
states.
“Young voters became a target in battleground states (because)
politicians realized that young voters have the potential to affect the
election results either way,” said New Voters Project employee Ben
Prochazka. “I think that, from a campaign standpoint, this year
there were actually ads targeting young people.”
Whatever the split, young voters were the only age group that swayed
the Democratic party. Kerry carried the youth vote 55 percent to 42 percent,
according to national exit polls.
“I think that more young people voted for Kerry because of his
stance on education and his energy policies,” said Nathan Pitman,
co-president of the Democrats of Auraria.
“I also think students tend to be a little bit more informed.”
The success of the Kerry/Edwards ticket among young voters indicated
a shift away from a third-party candidate. In 2000, Ralph Nader received
4.7 percent of the youth vote, a number that dropped to 1 percent in 2004.
“I think this was a way more highly contested and contentious election
than in 2000,” Prochazka said. “People thought there was more
riding on the decision between the two major candidates than the idea
of electing a third party candidate.”
In the end, regardless of the outcome, this election demonstrated how
high youth activism has the potential to sway results.
“The fact that there was political money being spent on young people—I
think it’s groundbreaking,” Prochazka said.
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