Election revealed political hunger among youth

While election numbers are digested, one thing is certain – Montana youth were hungry for a vote.

Not since the 26th constitutional amendment in 1971 allowed any U.S. citizen 18 and up to vote have the youth surged to the polls in such numbers.

In 1972, American youth had a 55.5 percent participation rate. The 2008 numbers were just shy of that at 54.5 percent. The national average since 1972 has been under 40 percent.  

According to CNN exit polls in Montana, the stalwart of political participation, 65 and up, accounted for only 18 percent of the total vote, compared with 22 percent of voters ages 18-29.

“Students got excited about this election due to the extraordinary efforts on getting them engaged,” said Sheena Rice, campus organizer for MontPIRG, a student directed non-partisan political group on the University of Montana campus.

“The best way to get young people to vote is to have them be encouraged by one of their peers,” Rice added. “Young people found that if they voted, people would pay attention, and it worked.”

MontPIRG’s efforts in Missoula registered 500 new voters and made 12,000 “get out the vote” contacts with 18-29-year-olds in the Missoula region.

On the national scene, youth accounted for 18 percent of all voters with 66 percent of their votes in favor of president-elect Barack Obama.

In Lincoln County, there are 2005 registered youth voters. On Nov. 4, 42 percent of that demographic went to the polls. However, county youth were well shy of state and national numbers, composing only 8 percent of the total vote.

Counter-intuitive to the data, the average population age is increasing, with higher percentages of people known as “baby boomers” – those reaching or nearing retirement.

Their population has risen, however, politically speaking – less and less are getting to the polls. Lincoln County election officials like Leigh Riggleman, believes that correlates with the increasing number of voters using absentee ballots. 

“As the age of the voting population increases, we are also finding that more voters are asking for absentee ballots,” Riggleman said.

“The percentage of voters who choose to vote absentee is steadily growing,” she added.

Absentees accounted for 31 percent of all votes cast in Lincoln County during the 2008 election.

“Many people, students, the elderly, the disabled, those with demanding jobs, are not inclined to vote if there is only one day that they can,” Rice said. “It also eases the workload of our election officials by spreading it out.”

Riggleman said much of the feedback she has received indicates that voters “like the ability and ease of being able to vote at their convenience, whether in their homes or when they are in town – rather than making a special trip on Election Day.”