Youth Voter Turnout

Here are the youth voter turnouts for the presidential primaries in 2000, 2004, and 2008. They are 18-29 year-old voters and either Democrat or Republican. This information was taken from Rock the Vote website, gathered by CNN exit polls and the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).



The information shows that there has been a decline in youth Republican voters. This can mean that either they are not going out to vote or that now more and more youth voters are registering as another party. It would seem to fit the trend that we see today: Many of the youth voters shown in the media today are Obama supporters, but that is not to say that there is youth voters who support McCain. Youth today are more liberal and open to the changing times, which is perhaps something these charts reflect.



Here we see a big spike in the amount of youth voters who are Democrats. This can also be attributed to more 18-29 year-olds registering as Democrats or more of them are voting. The charts also show that there have been more youth Democrats voting than youth Republicans, but perhaps because this election has been more exciting than previous ones there will be a rise in both parties, as well as others come this November.