Youth Turnout

There are countless perennial questions that face the politicos of the world:

Where will we get the cash?

How much sleep do I really need?

Another political blog? Really?

And the age old (at least since the '70s) question about young voters. Will they rock the vote? Are they worth the Party's effort? Should candidates dedicate any resources to increasing their turnout? And why are they so apathetic anyway?

A year ago, questions about young voters were no different in this year's midterm election then they have been in elections for the last thirty years. But then something happened. They voted. Ten million voters this November were 18-30 years old. Young voters made up 13% of all votes cast. Young voter turnout increased by 2 million voters over the 2002 midterm election, putting them at 24% turnout of eligible voters. These stats lead me to consider a new campaign question- is it time to put young voters back into the campaign plan?

Historically, the youth vote story is not good. Since the voting age was lowered to 18 in 1971, young voters have never turned out in large numbers. While youth turnout in presidential elections is usually close to the average voter turnout, they have always struggled to make their mark on the midterms. In their best midterm performance ever, only 26% of 18-30 year olds voted.

But 2006 may be the year history began to change. And a simple increase in turnout is not the most exciting aspect of the 2006 youth vote- what is important to us is the Democratic performance among these young voters. They chose Democrats by a margin of 60% to 38%. That is a 22-point difference. We need to give some credit where credit is due and recognize that the pro-Democrat voting gap among young voters is partly responsible for Democratic victories nationwide.

So what does that mean for 2008 and beyond? There are two important issues to consider.

First, studies show voters who affiliate with a particular party three elections in a row will vote for that party the rest of their lives. Democrats must hold on to the young voters who turned out this year. If we keep them in 2008 and 2010, they will always be ours. We should implement a strategic plan to identify the six million young voters who supported Democrats this year and keep them interested and invested in the Party.

Second, how do we encourage new young voters to get involved? There is an eligible population of about 43 million Americans age 18-30, but only 64% of them are registered to vote. What steps can the party take to capitalize on 2006's gains among young voters?

In surveys, young voters say they are interested in politics. Four out of five follow current events closely, 46% believe they can make a difference in their community, and 50% believe voting is extremely important. Their talk says they are interested, but the same surveys show they think politicians do not respond to their needs and only 25% of them think politicians effectively communicate with them. So they are interested, we just are not getting a message through.

In polls young voters say they are most influenced by their peers and respond to political appeals from people their own age. Democrats must design a campaign plan to target this constituency with the messages and messengers they are looking for if we hope to hold on the progress made in the 2006 midterm and build a larger young voter block in the coming years.

So here it is in a nutshell: historically, young voters were a wasted investment of campaign resources, but this year's increases indicate something may be changing. Young voters were a critical component of the 2006 Democratic comeback- it might be time to give them our attention again.

P.S. Thanks to payattention.org and civicyouth.org for the young voter stats!