Youth Vote

I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve heard an older person make the comment that my generation lacks the political awareness and action of older generations. This is obviously coming from the generation who lived during the Vietnam War and participated in many protests. While I don’t think this is entirely accurate, there are a few grains of truth with it.

There is something wrong with the percentage of those between the ages 18 and 30 who vote. When you look at South Carolina, for example, this age group made up 9% of voters in 2004, but this increased to 14% in this year’s primary. There are two ways to look at this. First of all, 9%?! This percentage is much lower than our actual representation. But you can also look at the trends. Many organizations about the youth vote, such as CIRCLE, are reporting a larger amount than usual of young voters, often doubling or tripling past participation numbers. And the majority of these voters are democrats for Obama. For once, it feels like my generation truly is stepping up to the plate to change the face of politics.