Over 2,000 March at Prairie View, a Reminder of Young Voters’ Engagement in ‘08 Election

Date: Wednesday, February 20, 2008
By: BlackAmericaWeb.com

A study being released this week by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement shows that in several states, voting among young adults has tripled and even quadrupled in some cases during presidential primaries. The survey also showed that young people who have some college education or are pursuing degrees were more likely to vote.

“Young people are engaged. They are expressing their concern about the issues, and candidates and campaigns are reaching out to them,” Peter Levine, executive director of CIRCLE, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

“The young people we are seeing today are different from those in recent decades,” he said. “This is a whole generation that is into volunteerism, and they identify with issues and concerns.”

The CIRCLE survey also showed:

• More than 3 million voters between the ages of 18 and 29 participated in the Super Tuesday elections in 14 states -- Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah.
• On the Democratic side, Sen. Barack Obama had the greatest support, carrying a majority of young voters in 10 states. Sen. Hillary Clinton carried two states -- Arizona and California. And the two leading Democrats split Massachusetts almost even.
• On the Republican side, John McCain and Mike Huckabee both carried six states with Mitt Romney carrying two.
• Young Democratic voters outnumbered young Republican voters two to one.
• Tennessee had the great percentage of increase among young voters when compared to previous years. In that state, 139,831 voted this year in the primary for a 15 percent turnout, compared with 2000 when only 35,127, or 4 percent of the young voters, participated in the primary election. CIRCLE uses 2000 as a comparison year because like 2008, it was a year when there was no incumbent in the race for president.
• Democratic voters were the most racially/ethnically diverse voting bloc in the Super Tuesday primaries. The majority of young Democratic voters, ages 17-24, were non-white (53 percent). Young Latinos were the largest minority voting bloc, making up over 20 percent of 17-24 and 25-29 year olds.

Leaders of Rock the Vote, a national, non-partisan group that encourages civic participation among youths, are pleased with the level of voter participation so far this year, and they expect it will increase as the year progresses.

“We set a goal of registering 2 million new voters this year. Already about a third of that number have downloaded voter registration applications from our website,” Chrissy Faessen, a spokeswoman for Rock the Vote, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

Young people are going to the polls, she said because of the issues and the energy of the candidates. Young people care about jobs, the economy, the war in Iraq and college affordability, and the candidates are talking about those issues, she said.

Because youths are more likely to be tech savvy, Rock the Vote has taken its campaign for voter participation high tech, she said. “We’ve teamed up with AT&T for Rock the Vote Goes Mobile. On Election Day, we’re sending text messages to young voters reminding them to go the polls.”

In Prairie View, students handled early voting the old fashioned way. They walked miles, singing, chanting and carrying signs.

As they marched from the campus, university President George Wright shook students’ hands and wished them well,  Judge DeWayne Charleston, a supporter of the student protest, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

“That sent a strong message," said Charleston, who marched with the students, as did Prairie View Mayor Frank Johnson. "I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.”