YOUTH MOVEMENT

Young adults have long had a reputation for being self-absorbed and apathetic about politics. The fact that voters between the age of 18 and 24 are half as likely to vote as their older counterparts bears out the latter. This year, however, youth voters are paying close attention to the presidential campaign and they are likely to show up at the polls in much larger numbers than in years past. Their participation, no matter whom they support, injects vitality and new issues into a tight race.

In the last presidential election, only 37 percent of 18- to 24-years-olds voted. To change that several groups, including the New Voters Project, are working hard to get young voters to the polls, especially in swing states. In Wisconsin, for example, the project has registered more than 74,000 new voters. The 2000 presidential election was decided by 5,708 votes in that state.

In Maine, voter turnout is among the highest in the nation for all age groups. In the 2000 presidential election, 60 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds voted here. That was the third highest voter turnout for this age group in the country and Maine has had the largest percentage increase in young voter participation since 1972 when 18-year-olds were given the right to vote. Yet, 78 percent of citizens over 25 here voted in the last presidential election, so the youth vote lags here too.

In Maine, the Secretary of State’s Office recently kicked off a campaign to encourage young people to vote. The secretary, along with the heads of Maine’s universities, community colleges, Maine Maritime Academy and some private colleges, pledged to support voter registration on campuses.

The educators also pledged to encourage civic participation and leadership among students and to ensure that information about residency requirements and absentee ballots is available on campus. A 1979 U.S. Supreme Court ruling gave students the right to vote where they attend college if they establish residency there. They may also vote absentee in their home state or town.

This year many students are putting a lot of thought into where they will vote, hardly the mark of a group disinterested in politics. Several students at Bowdoin College said they planned to vote in Maine rather than their home state of Massachusetts because their vote could make a bigger difference here. Polls show Massachusetts safely in the camp of Democrat John Kerry. Maine, however, is still considered a tossup. The students making such calculations supported both Kerry and President George Bush.

Students say they are more tuned in this year because many of the issues the candidates are talking about – funding for education, terrorism, the war in Iraq – are high on their list of concerns, too.

Getting more people into the voting booth, not matter their age, is a worthy goal. This November, it could make a difference.