Bringing out the young voters

The effort to draw more young people to the voting booth has produced some interesting cultural combinations. MTV’s Choose or Lose and Rock the Vote have prominently tried to connect pop culture with voting. World Wrestling Entertainment has organized its own “apolitical” initiative, Smackdown your Vote. The Web site for New Millennium Young Voters Project tries to educate in a casual way, with links labeled “Dude, Tell me about…” All this – and much more – is aimed at stemming a steady erosion in the number of young people who vote. In the 2000 presidential elections, 42 percent of voters in this age group cast ballots – in 1972, that figure was 55 percent. A 2003 report compiled by the National Association of Secretaries of State raised a warning about the trend. “This alarmingly low turnout record – part of a 25-year trend of decline – gives many state election officials cause for alarm. When those numbers are coupled with the fact that most high school students have never set foot inside of a polling place, the future of democracy seems pretty bleak.” The report outlines steps being taken to inform and register young voters, including state outreach efforts, nonpartisan registration drives, and coordination with schools and other organizations. To see the full report online, go to www.stateofthevote.org.