The youngest demographic of voters showed up in record numbers to vote in last year’s presidential election, according to new data released by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, or CIRCLE, at the University of Maryland.
The information shows that although initial reports found that the number of young voters did not increase, the number of 18- to 24-year old voters increased 9 percent, while increased turnout in other age groups hovered at around 5 percent.
In 2000, 38 percent of 18- to 24-year olds voted. In 2004, that increased to 47 percent. The youth vote in both elections made up the same percent of the overall vote, and voters aged 18 to 24 had the lowest turnout rate of any age group.
Mark Lopez, research director at CIRCLE, said the Center predicted increased youth turnout in the 2004 election because interests were similar to the last surge in youth voting, which occurred in 1992. He said he was pleasantly surprised by the rise in voters since 2000.
“There was much more of a concern to get the vote out to young people,” Lopez said. “Everywhere you went, there was a group working with young people.”
Lopez said he was surprised by the extent to which youth voters chose U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) over Republican President George W. Bush.
“Young people went for Kerry, but all other age groups — except for those over 75 — went for Bush,” Lopez said. “We found that was because the minority youths went for Kerry. The youth population is more diverse than the rest of the population.”
Election experts said they were not surprised by the increase in voter turnout across the board.
“In a way, it’s not surprising, because it was a hotly fought election,” said Dennis Hale, associate professor of political science at Boston College. “There were, of course, many efforts made to bring out new voters and younger voters.”
The increased interest in the election contributed greatly to voter turnout, Hale added.
“If there’s a boring campaign in 2008, I think we can expect there won’t be the kind of increase,” Hale said. “But the way things are going, I don’t think we’ll see a boring campaign in 2008.”
Hale said that while the 2004 turnout increase is promising for the youth vote, it is important not to jump to conclusions about the future of youth voting.
Various organizations spent the months before the 2004 election trying to increase youth voter turnout. One organization, Youth04, focused more on making young voters a part of the election instead of focusing on simply getting them to the polls.
David Anderson, who was the executive director of the organization, said that is an important distinction.
“I think the reason more people turned out is it was a very important election,” Anderson said. “I do think a lot of those efforts were successful … in bringing a lot of voters to the voting booth. But I don’t think they were successful in giving young voters a voice.”
He said making young voters feel they have a voice was his main concern in the election.
“The real challenge is for young voters to be recognized by politicians as a distinct voting bloc whose votes are sought by candidates in the same way that women are considered a voting bloc,” Anderson said. “Young voters needed to be regarded as a distinct and important voting bloc whose votes needed to be sought.”
Anderson added that the youth vote was higher in battleground states, which made them important in key states such as Ohio.
Anderson said his organization would be reorganizing as Youth06. They will continue their work to make young voters an important and integral part of the political process.