The youth vote may have a greater impact on this year's midterm elections than in past years, according to a recent report by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, but some members of the AU community have reservations about the findings.
CIRCLE Research Director Mark Lopez said the youth vote will likely increase nationally but will vary state to state.
"You can probably expect a 24 to 26 percent youth voter turnout this year and more in contested elections, compared to a 22 percent turnout in 2002," Lopez said.
Lopez said the voting policies states employ will highly affect young vote turnout.
"College students might have an easier or a harder time because of absentee ballots," Lopez said. "There are a lot of barriers that can come along with absentee ballots, such as paperwork and mailing in that paperwork on time."
In their survey of youths, CIRCLE researchers found that a face-to-face non-partisan campaign was the most effective way to increase youth voting. These campaigns increased the youth vote 5 to 7 percent and were much more effective than phone calls or text messages, according to Lopez.
CIRCLE compiled data from independent researchers who funded and conducted their own experiments and researched voting statistics in the 18- to 29-year-old age group released in the Census Bureau Survey of the current population.
Government spending on college loans will be an important issue in bringing students to the polls, said Miriam Callahan, vice president of the College Democrats and a sophomore in the School of International Service.
"The government is decreasing the number of Pell grants, which affects all college students, so it's important to get out there and vote," she said.
Chair of the department of government Candice Nelson said in an e-mail that she doesn't expect the turnout among young voters in 2006 to exceed that of 2004. However, if there is a higher turnout this year, Nelson said she expects it will be because of the war in Iraq.
John Zevitas, president of College Republicans, and a junior in the School of Public Affairs, said in an e-mail that the war in Iraq will be an important issue in motivating young voters.
"In 2004, the Iraq War brought many young adults out to vote," he said. "This year, Iraq is still an issue, and it will continue to bring people out. Young people will definitely play an important factor in the upcoming election."
Jenna Vaccaro, a freshman in SPA, said she is very excited to participate in her first election.
"Being here, I think the youth vote will have a big impact because we are such a politically active campus, but I'm not really sure about the rest of the country," she said.
Some AU students said they don't feel their votes will have a major impact in the November election.
Douglas Robins, a freshman in SPA, said he has his absentee ballot ready to go but doesn't think most college students around the country share his interest in voting.
"I guess you could say the Iraq War would be a reason why students would want to vote, but I don't think a lot of kids care about voting for House representatives as much as presidential elections," he said.
"Students are just lazy when it comes to voting in midterm elections," said Kristie Miller, a senior in SPA and the School of Communication. "It's a lot of effort to get an absentee ballot, fill it out and send it in. We go to a very political school, but it's definitely not the same at other colleges"
