Despite the growing number of outlets broadcasting the wiles of the presidential campaign, youth voters have yet to take notice.
A study conducted by Pew Research Center in September shows that “young voters are significantly less engaged in this year’s election than at a comparable point in 2008.”
According to the survey, voters younger than 30 who continue to pay close attention to the election have fallen 7 percent since the last election. In addition, only 62 percent of young voters say they definitely plan to vote this year, compared to the 72 percent in 2008. And with only 50 percent of young adults reporting that they are certain they are registered to vote, actual voter turnout could fall far below that number.
Regan Onweller, a sophomore studying language arts education, said she believes the presidential election is important to pay attention to, but she has to focus on other factors of her life first.
Onweller said she would rather vote for events such as the MTV Video Music Awards because they require less thought.
“I think that it’s probably more important to vote on the president, but I would rather vote for MTV stuff than the president because it doesn’t really require much thinking,” she said. “It’s just based on who I prefer to listen to or watch.”
Jeress Pendleton, a freshman studying chemical engineering, said he has a similar belief in regard to the election.
“I feel like (the election) hasn’t hit me or affected me individually, so I don’t pay much attention to it,” he said. “I think I should care enough to know what is going on within my own country, but I do believe that the overall government needs to work together in order for anything successful to happen.”
However, Shannon Welch, president of Ohio University’s College Democrats, said she believes the statistics are not a valid representation of students on the Athens campus.
“I feel that students have been extremely responsive and engaged when I have spoken to them regarding this election,” she said. “There are many, many people that were not old enough to vote in the 2008 election and are now so excited to finally be able to cast their ballot.”
She also said she does not agree with the growing argument that the interests of the youth are becoming misguided.
“College students are concerned with what they should be concerned with: doing well in school and getting a good job when they graduate,” she said. When I talk to them about how this election can and will affect them regarding these concerns, they are engaged and responsive.”
Yet Ryan Dilworth, president of OU’s College Republicans, has noticed a change in reaction to the election.
“I’m not seeing students quite as excited as we saw in 2008,” he said. “But I’m seeing quite a bit of youth for Romney that we didn’t see for McCain.”
At least 48,084 people registered to vote in Athens by the deadline, according to the Athens County Board of Elections. In addition, 4,973 absentee ballots were distributed as of Friday.
Debbie Quivey, the board’s director, said the board has no way of determining how many of the voters are students.
“When someone comes in to place a vote, there is not a state requirement to indicate if you’re a student,” she said.
Quivey added that she does notice a difference in youth turnout during non-presidential election years.
“In an odd year, we don’t see as many students, and I’m only basing that off of what I see in the office,” she said.
lf328610@ohiou.edu
