Youth vote

Youth vote

The youth vote is a political term used primarily in the United States to describe 18 to 25-year-olds and their voting habits.

The term "Youth Vote" goes back to the 1930s, when low-income rural and urban young people in the United States were first mobilized to vote in blocs by the youth activism movement.fact|date=September 2008 Their issues were largely related to joblessness, homelessness, education, and guaranteed income.fact|date=September 2008

While youth were alternately activated and suppressedfact|date=September 2008 in their voting habits through the 1950s, the early 1960s saw a renewed interest in encouraging young peoples' progressive voting habits. When Students for a Democratic Society put out a global call to action for youth via the Port Huron Statement, millions of youth around the world reacted.fact|date=September 2008 A variety of youth voting efforts sprung up across Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. The United States experienced a massive upsurge in youth civic action of all sorts, with a particular emphasis on the youth vote.fact|date=September 2008 A variety of organizations, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Black Panthers, the Young Lords, and Youth Liberation of Ann Arbor each worked to encourage young people to vote together and for common issues.

The number of young voters in the 2008 presidential election has tripled, even quadrupled in some states compared to the 2004 elections. [Harris, Chris. "Super Tuesday Youth Voter Turnout Triples, Quadruples in Some States." MTV.com. retrieved 6 Feb 2008. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1581027/20080206/ld_0.jhtml] In his "Time Magazine" article "why Young Voters Care Again" David Von Drehle reports that "Obama drew more under-30 voters than all Republican candidates combined in South Carolina." [Von Drehle, David. "Why Young Voters Care Again." Time Magazine. Feb 2008:34-48.] Therefore, not only are more young voters turning out to vote, but many of them are voting for Obama. [Von Drehle, David. "Why Young Voters Care Again." Time Magazine. Feb 2008. 34-48]

New technology, the internet especially is making it easier for candidates to reach the youth and, in turn, more young people are voting. [Von Drehle, David. "Why Young Voters Care Again." Time Magazine. Feb 2008:34-48] Websites such as Facebook and Youtube not only allow students who don't subscribe to newspapers or watch the evening news stay on top of the polls, but also allows them to share their excitement over the polls and candidates. [Von Drehle, David. "Why Young Voters Care Again." Time Magazine. Feb 2008:34-48]

Today, a number of organizations proclaim their commitment to garnering the youth voice. They include Rock the Vote, League of Young Voters, 18 in '08, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), Declare Yourself, Young Voter PAC, WWE Smackdown Your Vote and YouthVote USA.

A 2008 poll has concluded a possible dramatic drop by young voters in the 2008 Canadian election. The poll found that only about 50% of respondents would vote. This was down from the 2006 Canadian election in which 57% of youths voted. [cite news|title=Dramatic drop in youth voting, institute warns|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080929/election2008_youthvote_081001/20081001?s_name=election2008|accessdate=2008-10-01|publisher=CTV News]

ee also

*Youth politics
*Youth suffrage
*Apathy is Boring A Canadian non-profit and non-partisan organization that promotes youth involvement in politics

Notes

References

External links

* [http://www.civicyouth.org Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE)] at the University of Maryland, College Park
* [http://www.18in08.com 18 in '08]
* [http://www.youngvoterpac.org Young Voter PAC]


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