MASSPIRG In The News

Young voters turn out for historic vote

Millions of young voters cast ballots for president, increasing their participation from four years ago and giving a major boost to Barack Obama, experts say.

Locally, an effort to register students at UMass Dartmouth contributed to a 72 percent jump in turnout at the polling location serving the campus, said Vanessa Wright, the campus organizer for MassPIRG, a nonprofit group that helped lead the nonpartisan registration drive.

"We clearly have seen that the work we have done paid off, and the students are voting in record numbers and are excited to vote," Ms. Wright said.

The number of voters showing up for Precinct 3 at the Cross Road fire station was 1,491 Tuesday, up from 865 in the 2004 presidential election, and UMass Dartmouth students played a major role, she said.

On Election Day, more than 20 million people ages 18 to 29 voted nationally. The turnout of eligible voters in that age group was between 49.3 percent and 54.5 percent, up from 48 percent in 2004 and 41 percent in 2000, according to estimates by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

CIRCLE calculates turnout using exit polls, which break down voters by demographics, and total number of ballots counted. Since some ballots were still being counted Wednesday afternoon, the group offered a preliminary range of turnout numbers.

"Youth turnout was up, and young people voted very strongly for the winner, Barack Obama," CIRCLE director Peter Levine said in a conference call.

Exit polls show Sen. Obama winning 66 percent of voters ages 18 to 29, compared to 32 percent for Sen. John McCain. Typically, young voters' preferences do not diverge significantly from the entire electorate, but Sen. Obama's youth vote was much greater than his advantage in the overall vote, Mr. Levine said.

The youth vote made a difference in the outcome, experts said.

"He probably would be able to win (without the advantage), but it would be by a lot less pronounced margin," said Dr. Brian Frederick, assistant professor of political science at Bridgewater State College.

The Obama campaign made a point of reaching out to young voters, taking advantage of the Internet and text messaging. The poor economy also prompted young people to go to the polls, Dr. Frederick said.

Moreover, young voters' political views took shape at a time when President Bush is highly unpopular. By comparison, people who came of age during Ronald Reagan's popular presidency are more likely to hold conservative views, he said.

Looking ahead, Dr. Frederick said he is unsure whether the higher youth turnout will be sustained in the future without the historic candidacies and the economic woes.

UMass Dartmouth junior Jim Fogarty said he voted for Sen. Obama because he thinks the country needs change. It was his first opportunity to vote for president, and he was glad he could participate.

"It was a good experience, and I think everyone should take advantage of it if they can," said Mr. Fogarty, 20, of Holden. "It's a privilege."

Jacob Ventura, a UMass Dartmouth senior active in Republican politics, said his party can persuade more young voters in the future as they join the work force and see taxes eat into their earnings.

"I still really believe the issues are on the side of the Republican Party, and it all depends on how they market themselves as a brand to young people," Mr. Ventura said.

Besides registering students to vote, MassPIRG and its volunteers followed up by making sure students actually went to the polls. At UMass Dartmouth, students were reminded to vote through phone calls and text messages.

MassPIRG volunteers at Bristol Community College asked students to text message to receive a reminder, then forward that message to their friends. The effort resulted in an estimated 1,200 people receiving reminders, said Alex Robertson, the organization's full-time BCC organizer.

"It's an easy way to make students feel like they have an impact in getting out the vote," Mr. Robertson said.

Contact Brian Boyd at bboyd@s-t.com