News > September 16, 2004

By Alexandra Casagrande

Contributing Reporter

In the 2000 presidential election, 38.6 percent of young adult voters between the ages of 18 and 24 cast votes, according to a 2002 White House study.  In an effort to raise that percentage, campus organizations have planned a barrage of campus events to involve young voters.

The youth vote, if exercised to its fullest potential, would have a major impact on which candidate gets elected.

“In an election as close as this one appears, this group is being targeted as one where there are a lot of potential votes that weren’t cast last time but could make a difference this time,” Katy Harriger, a professor of political science, said.

Uncovering the central reason behind the lack of voter participation in the youth category proves difficult, experts said.  “There is no one big reason why 18 to 24 year olds have a low voter turnout.  It is partly due to the fact that this group is not feeling the direct effects of political decisions as other Americans are, they are not paying taxes or holding a steady job yet,” John Dinan, a professor of political science, said.

Dinan also attributed the difficulty of absentee voting as one more reason that 18-24 year olds do not vote in large numbers.

“There is a sense (among the youth) that the candidates are not talking to them about issues that they care about, which is true because candidates don’t waste time talking to groups that don’t vote,” Harriger said.

Voter participation in this election could prove more crucial because it is an election in which there are important differences between the candidates, Dinan said. 

“While national election politics seem pretty divorced from the average student’s life, in fact, election outcomes do matter,” Harriger said. “Macroeconomic policy that affects the availability of jobs when they graduate and the security of their parents’ jobs or investments are affected by election outcomes.”

Currently, the 18 to 24-year-old age group is composed of the “echo boom,”  the progeny of the baby boomers.  This echo boom outnumbers its parents’ generation by about 10 million, according to the study.

However, due to the traditionally low voter turnout in this group, the discernible effect on the outcome of the traditional election is small. This could be changing though, if organizations such as the College Republicans, College Democrats, Campus Libertarians and various nonpartisian and faculty groups succeed in their mission on-campus this fall. 

Their solution then lies in motivating the young adult voting bloc to participate. College Republicans are planning to assist in removing the first roadblock to voting, voter registration.

“We plan on having several voter registration drives, including a ‘campus canvass’ in which we hope to register a large number of Wake students,” said senior Samantha Larkin, the outgoing secretary of College Republicans, said. 

“Few people know that they can register to vote using their campus addresses and we are trying to get the message out.”

Other groups, such as the College Democrats, Campus Libertarians, the Chaplain’s Office, the Pro Humanitate Center and the Office of Student Development are working toward educating young adults to both motivate a desire to vote and provide the necessary information toward making an informed decision.

College Democrats are hosting a pledge drive, in which students pledge two to four hours to work on campaigns between now and the November election.  The students will get a gift if they complete their pledge.  “The goal is to get students excited about the election and to help more Democrats get elected,” said senior Anjali Garg, the president of College Democrats.

Garg thinks the goal in getting the youth to vote nationally should start within the towns they live in.  “Personally, I think all politics is local.  Our goal is to get people to think about politics in Wintson-Salem.  What happens locally will affect people’s views at the national level and vice versa.”

Campus Libertarians are striving to educate people about libertarianism using their presidential candidate, Michael Badnarik. “We are going to be pushing our presidential candidate, which is a good vehicle to get people familiar with Libertarian ideology,” said senior Jacob Lyles, the president of Campus Libertarians.  “We’ve been around for two years, so we’re still largely in the planning stage for this year.  However, this year we plan on giving many more opportunities for people’s input in the group.”

In the educational sphere, the Chaplain’s Office, Pro Humanitate Center and Office of Student Development co-hosted the “Vote? Why Bother?” teach-in to engage and inform students on election issues ranging local and national 6 p.m. Sept. 14th. 

“The teach-in is an effort to increase awareness and to encourage everyone in the Wake Forest community to vote in the November elections,” the Betsy Taylor, director of the Pro Humanitate Center, said. 

It was a kick-off event for “Let Justice Roll: Faith and Community Voices Against Poverty,” a statewide interfaith civic forum, on Sept. 18 in Wilson, N.C. sponsored by the North Carolina Economic Justice Committee and the North Carolina Council of Churches. 

The university has chartered a bus to transport interested students, faculty and staff to the forum. Interested students can contact the Chaplain’s Office at Ext. 5210 to sign up for the bus or for further information.