Trying to reclaim young voters

In the basement of a downtown Spokane bank building deprived of carpeting and windows, 21-year-old Bridget Elliott spends many hours working to further the cause of Republicans.

Writing e-mails and making political signs isn’t a job most people her age would seek, but the Washington State University student – who last year was president of the College Republicans in Pullman – looks at the internship as an opportunity to educate herself and sway others.

And if ever there was a time to make a difference, she figures, it’s now.

With less than three months before this year’s presidential election, what people such as Elliott do in the days ahead could play a large part in the direction of the country. President Bush and Sen. John Kerry are nearly dead even in polls, and the rush is on to land young voters who could swing the election.

Of all U.S. citizens, those in the 18 to 24 age range are consistently the least likely to vote. In the 2000 election, just 42 percent of voters in that range cast a ballot, a figure that has steadily declined in the past 25 years, according to the New Millennium Survey of young voters. It’s these statistics that contribute to what one scholar calls the “vicious cycle” of voting.

“Young people don’t vote because politicians don’t listen to them. Politicians don’t listen because young people don’t vote,” wrote Dr. Francis Kane, co-director of the Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Maryland’s Salisbury University, in an e-mail to The Spokesman-Review.

But for the first time in many years, he said, issues that affect young people are on the national radar. In turn, more young voters are predicted to turn out for the 2004 election.

While “Fahrenheit 9/11,” the 2000 election and terrorist attacks have all created buzz about the upcoming vote, experts say two specific issues might compel young voters to kick their apathetic ways: jobs and the war in Iraq.

“I think people are caring more about voting because there’s been a push to show that it’s relevant to us,” said Carina Vanson, a 21-year-old Eastern Washington University student working on Democratic Sen. Patty Murray’s re-election campaign.

Issues aside, more novice voters could also turn out for the 2004 election because of their upbringings, said Peter Levine, deputy director of The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement at the University of Maryland.

Those in Generation Y – an age bracket generally considered to include those born in the 1980s and later – have grown up in an era of serious news, Levine said.

“They’re clearly paying more attention and are expressing more interest in voting,” he said.

Levine said politicians need to focus on issues that are relevant to that age bracket, meaning there might be more talk about the cost of college education as opposed to concerns about Social Security.

Despite these changes in campaign strategies, it’s hard to predict what the overall effect young voters may have. According to research, 18- to 24-year-olds are generally split along partisan lines, he said.

What makes the youth vote hard to read is that many in the category have yet to establish firm beliefs, let alone any sort of professional or community standing. As people get older, Levine said, they tend to gain more knowledge and become more rooted in communities, where they own property and raise families. These factors – and a college education – increase the likelihood of voter participation more than anything else, he said.

To ensure a strong voting bloc, Vinny Zito, head of the Young Republicans at North Idaho College, believes civics classes should be mandatory in all high schools. Educating people at an early age would get them excited about voting and lead to change, he said.

Zito cited statistics that show 18- to 24-year-olds make up one-eighth of all voters. While that might not seem like a huge number, he said, it’s more than enough to swing an election.

“If you’re not part of the solution,” he said, “then you’re part of the problem.”