Young people make up 20 percent of the vote and expected voter participation has increased
Kesley Thomas (The Beacon)
By Kelsey Thomas Staff Writer thomask15@up.edu
With the presidential election just a week away, UP students are wondering just how much their vote will matter, and if their peers will vote.
Young people constitute 20 percent of the voting population, and have the potential to be a deciding factor in the election, according to the Center for Information on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University.
Expected voter participation among youth has risen to 54.6 percent, a significant increase from 2008 when 51 percent of young people voted, according to a poll released Monday by CIRCLE. The poll also revealed that if the election were held today, President Barack Obama would win the youth vote over Republican candidate Mitt Romney 52 percent to 35.1 percent.
University of Portland has adamantly encouraged voter participation through the VoteUP campaign, but some students still aren't informed about the election or don't plan on voting. But there are UP students who plan on casting their ballot for Obama or Romney, and hope other students will do the same.
According to Moreau Center Director Laura Gobel, they trained 50 students in voter registration. Two hundred students have registered to vote through the Moreau Center thus far, but Gobel says more have likely registered online or through other methods.
Through the VoteUP campaign, student leaders also ran four panels on issues important to students. The panels with the most attendants were health care and immigration, with about 60 attendees each.
Although the VoteUP campaign was successful, many UP students remain uninformed about the impact of the coming election.
"Many students feel like [politics] are very complex and messy and hard to engage in," Gobel said.
Senior Stephanie Fekete, a strong advocate for voting, said that a lack of interest and effort often keep young people away from politics.
"Some younger people don't really want to take the time to really understand how politics works," Fekete said.
Fekete along with other politically active students on campus encourage students to get informed and participate in the democratic process.
"I think it's very important that people have their voice be heard," Fekete said. "It is a duty we all have."
Although sophomore Stephanie Quilici said she does find politics difficult, she agrees that it is her duty to vote.
"There are so many different aspects to politics," Quilici said. "But it's important to be informed."
Quilici became informed on what each candidate stood for and how it lined up with her own views through an online quiz called Isidewith.com. After answering a series of questions, the site provides a percentage for each candidate indicating how much the quiz-taker agrees with his or her platform.
Fekete took a more investigative approach.
"I look at what the candidates have to say by themselves," Fekete said. "I try not to look at anything negative said about either candidate and I look at the issues rather than what they have done outside of their professional lives."
In 2008, young Americans preferred President Obama to John McCain 2 to 1. According to a poll by CIRCLE, Obama currently has a 17 percentage point lead on Romney among voters ages 18-29. However, there are strong supporters for both the president and Mitt Romney on the UP campus.
Fekete said she is voting for Mitt Romney because he captures more ideas she agrees with and she is dissatisfied with President Obama's performance.
"I think we need something different," Fekete said. "Mitt Romney is positioning himself as a fairly moderate Republican that can try to create more bipartisanship than Obama does."
Junior Andrew Meyer said he supports President Obama because he believes Obama is most supportive of human rights.
"[The most important issue] is making sure we don't throw our own citizens to the wolves," Meyer said. "Especially those who are in need: the poor, the sick, the elderly."
Regardless of who students are voting for, Fekete and Quilici both agree that the most important thing is that students cast a vote at all.
"It makes me mad when people don't vote," Quilici said. "I didn't know hardly anything about politics but I took the time to get informed."
