Youth voter turnout for the 2006 elections nearly doubled from 2002, creating a record turnout after organizers registered more than 34,000 youth voters between the ages of 18 to 34 across the state, according to Student Vote Coalition numbers released last week.
In Lane County, voter turnout for all ages increased by 11.15 percent from 2002. In Eugene, voting precincts in the West University neighborhood and around Autzen Stadium reported an increase in youth voter turnout of about 43 percent, according to the coalition.
The coalition partially attributes the overall 42 percent increase in youth voter turnout from the last midterm election to its efforts. The Student Vote Coalition is a student-led voter registration and mobilization organization composed primarily of the Oregon Student Association, which represents nine Oregon universities and community colleges, OSPIRG and Building Votes, a program affiliated with the Oregon Bus Project.
In terms of percentage increases from 2002, the Lane County precincts “definitely won” in comparison to the rest of the state, said Alex Aronson, a lead organizer for Building Votes.
Approximately 100 student volunteers helped to register 6,876 students at the University, including students who were previously registered at other addresses, said Emily McLain, ASUO state affairs coordinator and OSA member.
The goal was to register at least 5,000 new voters and to encourage increased voter turnout, she said.
“That’s pretty exciting that we were able to have such a significant impact on the way that these elections turned out and helping students at our university have their voices heard,” McLain said.
The coalition started registering voters during summer, but the biggest registration campaign started on the first day of school and continued until the voter registration deadline on Oct. 17, McLain said.
After the deadline for registering passed, the coalition focused on reminding students to vote.
Coalition volunteers passed out voter guides about candidates and measures, hosted debates between candidates, and made presentations in classes, McLain said. Coalition members also made 18,650 phone calls and knocked on 7,138 doors, she said.
“Students have so many things going on in their life that they need to be reminded,” McLain said. “The Student Vote Coalition was the largest presence on campus this year when it came to get out the vote activities and reminding students about the issues.”
Aronson said Building Votes targeted voter precincts in Portland, Eugene and Corvallis that had a high number of potential youth voters. Young volunteers reminded people to vote by knocking on doors, calling registered voters and passing out information about state ballot measures.
“We believe that peer-to-peer contact from one young person to another young person is the most effective way to get them to vote,” Aronson said. “It’s not only a process of registering young people to vote, but it’s also about engaging them in the conversation.”
Voting precincts that were targeted by the coalition’s volunteers had a 54 percent voter turnout, while the state average for registered voters in Oregon was 42 percent, Aronson said. At one precinct in Portland, the youth voter turnout was 66 percent.
“I think a lot of these increases in turnout point to a lack of organization of these young voting precincts in 2002,” Aronson said. “This shows that when organizers start to work to encourage these young people to vote, they will actually respond and go vote.”
The mobilization efforts worked up until election day, Nov. 7, when students at the EMU continued to cast their ballots up until the 8 p.m. deadline.
“We literally had students running to get them in on time, all the way up to the deadline,” McLain said. “It was good that we could be there to help them get them turned in, make sure their there on time, and make sure the election people didn’t leave without any ballots.”
Aronson said the groups hope to continue their efforts to increase voter registration and turnout. They are already planning for 2008.
“We’re organizing volunteer events and ways for the volunteers who were apart of this program to feed back their ideas so we can build the program for the future, because it’s going to be a pretty crazy year in 2008,” Aronson said.
Contact the city, state politics reporter at [email protected]
Youth vote sets record for midterm election
Daily Emerald
November 26, 2006
0
More to Discover