Student voters make voices heard in early state primaries

Stephanie Damon-Moore Assistant Life Editor

With Feb. 5, also known as Super Tuesday, rapidly approaching, the first handful of states have thrown their influence into the ring of political primaries. And in an unpredictable race, the youth vote has become more important than ever. How are college-aged students getting involved?

In Iowa, where young voters overwhelmingly supported Senators Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee, voting precincts throughout the state saw a 300- percent increase in youth turnout from the 2000 election.

Ellen Butler ’09 caucused in Des Moines, Iowa while she was home for winter break. Butler cited the cynicism she has witnessed among young people and her interest in Barack Obama as her motivation for participating in the caucus.

“I registered to vote when I turned 18 because it’s just what you do, it was expected of me,” Butler explained, but said she had never felt the need to vote until now.

After listening to teenagers she was student-teaching complain about the government, Butler realized that “instead of choosing to be a positive change, they just choose not to vote at all.” When she went with a friend to see Obama speak, Butler decided she had to vote.

This surge in youthful voting and voting in general is being echoed across America. In New Hampshire there was such a surprising turnout that some voting locations almost ran out of ballots.

New Hampshire native Ellie Levine ’08 cast her vote in the first primary of the 2008 election. While Levine has voted in every election since she was 18, this year she felt she had added motivation.

“I feel like anything would be better than the current situation,” Levine said. “So although I would have voted anyway, I think it’s especially important that people get out and vote this year.”

Other voters agreed. 63 percent of registered voters cast a ballot in New Hampshire, which increased the turnout of 2000 by about a third, according to the Boston Globe.

Overall, Republican candidates Mitt Romney, Huckabee, and John McCain have all won one or more states, while Hillary Clinton and Obama are the clear front-runners for the Democrats. Although polling numbers are highest for Clinton and McCain at present, the outcome remains uncertain.

One thing, however, is clear: America is keeping its eye on young voters. In the democratic race, Obama has invested heavily in youth support—and he’s getting a lot of it—but Clinton is getting a piece of the pie, as well. The political journal The Nation found that 25-30-year-olds in New Hampshire rallied for Clinton.

With 51 percent of the Democratic delegates and 41 percent of the Republican delegates being determined on Super Tuesday, it’s very likely that the party nominations will be sett;ed on Feb. 5.
Nick Dressler ’11 is casting his vote in the New York primary—one of Super Tuesday’s most important—in a year he sees as the perfect one in which to make his voice heard.

“Because the race is so close, and because there are no incumbents running for either party, this is a year in which each vote can really make a difference,” Dressler said. Dressler also voted because he views his candidate, Obama, as the vehicle for crucial political change.

Nikki Turner ’11 has already sent in her absentee ballot for another Super Tuesday state, New Jersey. This is the first election that she’s been old enough to vote in.

“I’m sick of the current state of our government,” she said, “and I finally get a chance to make a difference.”