NBC29Young Voters Could Make History in 2008
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Every election there's a push to register young voters and every election millions of them register, but don't vote. With the excitement of this historic election, that history could be changing.
As Election Day approaches, millions of people have registered to vote. A good number of them are young voters. The University Democrats President at the University of Virginia, Sarah Buckley, offered a reason: "They realized that their vote can really have an effect of the direction of the party and eventually the country."
According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, or CIRCLE, more than 180,000 people under 30 voted in Virginia's primary in February. Young voters made up 16 percent of all voters.
"I think young people also understand the stakes of this election. I think with the war, whatever side you're on, with the economy, I think, people, especially educated young people really see that we can't afford to just mess around and not participate," said Voter Registration Coalition's Marta Cook.
More than 60 UVA students gathered in the Student Union to watch Barack Obama accept the Democratic nomination. One of those students was Sam Shirazi. He became a U.S. citizen in June.
He said, "This is probably one of the most important elections in our lifetime. The fact that I can vote for the first time, it's gonna be a great feeling stepping into the booth and voting. I can't put into words how happy I am that I can vote."
Excitement is building. According to Voter Registrar Sheri Iachetta, "Just in the city in the past couple of days we've sent out approximately 500 voter registration cards to new voters or voters who have recently moved into the area."
Buckly believes voting records could be broken in November. She predicted, "I think young people are going to turn out in record numbers, and I think especially that's going to make the difference in Virginia and turn Virginia 'blue.'"
In the 2004 primary season, voters under 30 made up only six percent of primary voters.
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