Increased Voter Outreach Caused National Youth Voter SurgeAndre Delattrebyline‚ Nov. 16‚ 2006(Ed note: While many reasons have been given for the huge increased voter turnout on Nov. 7—Iraq, anti-gay marriage initiatives etc---this piece shows that increased voter mobilization efforts may have been the greatest factor. Delattre is the National Coordinator of the Student PIRGS) I’ve spent the last few days pouring over Election Day returns and have been marveling at the astounding youth turnout numbers. The increase in youth voter turnout this week was four times the rate of the general population’s increase (4 percentage points for youth, 1 percentage point overall). On top of that, an analysis of 36 student-dense precincts where the nonpartisan Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project---which worked on 80 campuses--- conducted voter registration and Get Out the Vote work found that the rate of turnout in those precincts was six times that of young adults overall. In other words, youth voter turnout surged this week, and at college campuses where our amazing network of student leaders and professional organizers were active, the turnout increase was even higher. So what happened, and what lessons can we learn from all of this? |