While it may seem senseless to drone on about this year’s election, especially a week and a half after the fact, there is one point which bears repeating: Young people voted, and they voted in record numbers.
The youth vote naysaying began even before the election was decided. Major news outlets ran stories citing disappointing turnout among the nation’s young people. Most of these accounts were misleading, if not wholly inaccurate. More young people age 18 to 29 voted than four years ago (around 4.6 million more) and it was the first time since 1972 that a majority of eligible young people voted.
Youth voter turnout isn’t an isolated, kooky liberal Eugene phenomenon. A record number of young people nationwide made it to the polls, in red states just as in blue. Perhaps with just a bit of gentle prodding from the more civic-minded among us, our generation will demand greater accountability from the officials we’ve just elected, and the issues that concern us most will begin to be more fairly addressed.
Dan Platt
League of Conservation Voters
Education Fund/Project Democracy
Inbox: Youth vote underestimated
Daily Emerald
November 11, 2004
0
More to Discover