The Youth Vote

By Jill Wagner

We're deep into the election season in one of the most exciting presidential races ever... and just days away from the third and final debate right here on Long Island at Hofstra University. 

The big question--will the youth vote actually make a difference on election day?  Technically, "youth" is anyone between 18 and 30.  After spending some time at Hofstra working on some political stories, I can say that EVERYONE I spoke to on the campus has something to say about the election.  When I asked WHO they were going to vote for, students had their candidate picked and felt pretty strongly about it.  But when I asked them, HOW and WHERE will they actually be casting their ballots, that was a different story.  The hard part about college kids is that many are away at school and have to either drive hours back home to vote or vote absentee.  So it requires some advanced planning.  I was surprised at how many students had ordered their absentee ballots and couldn't wait to get them in the mail.  But there were also a ton of students who said they hadn't ordered ballots and also don't live close enough to home to drive there to vote.

I interviewed Meena Bose, a political science professor at Hofstra.  She said, most elections, the youth vote is pretty unreliable.  But this year is different.  Why?  She says it's because the election is so wide open---there's no incumbent and the country can go in a very different direction depending on who is elected.  Plus, there are the issues. This year, the economy is on almost everyone's mind.  For students, there is that big question---will they get a job when they graduate?  Will they be able to pay off student loans?  Many students told me that was their big concern.  Also the environment is a big deal.  I watched the first presidential debate at the Student Center, and some of the biggest applause came when the candidates talked about alternative energy. 

Many of my friends are for the first time paying close attention to the election.  Being very interested in politics, I was always frustrated that my friends didn't seem to care one way or the other about presidential elections or even vote.  But yes, this year is different.  Most of my friends not only say they're going to vote, but they want to have discussions about the candidates and where they stand on the issues.  Maybe it's because we're getting older or maybe it's just because of the nature of the election.

Either way, I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens on election day.  But there's more than 40 million eligible youth voters, so if they all -- or even a majority -- actually cast a ballot, it can make a huge difference!