I just read an article on the Washington Post http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/11/alaska_senate_count_the_votes.html?hpid=topnews about the 2008 elections in Alaska to determine their United State Senator.  I was really s

"When did you say you mailed in your voter registration form?"

"About two months ago," I said, ear pressed to the phone.

"That's not what I like to hear," she sighed.

And the viral element sure seems to be working...

For the second major election in a row, young voter turnout is up across the country, and even more so in places where they were targeted.  Below is a news release from Young Voter Strategies with an analysis of 18-29 year olds' turnout results from the national exit poll, precinct tallies, and election-eve polling from Celinda Lake and Ed Goeas. A HUGE THANK YOU to the youth voter community, all of our fellows who tirelessly worked to register and turn out young people. This report below courtesy of the Young Voter Strategies Team

Turnout among 18-29 year old voters increased by more than 2 million voters in the 2006 elections compared to 2002, according to an early exit poll analysis released today as part of the first comprehensive look at the youth vote in the midterm elections, presented by Young Voter Strategies.  At least 10 million votes were cast by this age group in 2006 compared to 8 million in 2002, and the vote counts are still coming in.  Youth-dense precincts that were targeted by Get-Out-the-Vote campaigns showed even larger increases.  Turnout more than doubled in the 36 precincts where groups like the nonpartisan Student PIRG's New Voters Project actively turned out this age cohort.

Also released today, a new bipartisan poll by Ed Goeas and Celinda Lake shows that in 2006 young voters were motivated primarily by a strong desire for change, combined with high levels of contact from campaigns and nonpartisan organizations:  61% of those who were surveyed said they feel the country is on the "wrong track" and 52% report being contacted by a campaign.

"A new generation of voters has arrived as a force in politics," said Heather Smith, Director of Young Voter Strategies. "For the second major election in a row, turnout among young voters increased--yesterday's election showed that 2004 was the start of a trend of increasing young voter turnout.  Today's young adults proved that they're a critical voting bloc for both political parties to court--at 42 million strong, this generation will only grow in importance as more and more vote in each election."  

Congratulations to Trey Thomas, Chairman of Penn State's Represent and Elena Cross founding member of Represent!
They are - and have made - an incredible contribution to the youth vote!

Though we are still waiting for youth vote turnout numbers nationally, Represent has already assessed the total turnout for all student/on-campus precincts at Penn State(24, 25, 27, 28 and 33) was 924, a 119% increase over the 2002 turnout of 422 - targeted precincts and focus areas for Represent.

Total turnout for mainly student/downtown precincts (18, 26, 29, 30 and 34) was 977, a 36% increase over the 2002 turnout of 719.  Overall turnout for all watched precincts (excluding those in Ferguson Township by Wal-mart - lower student ratios) was 1901, a 67% increase over the 2002 turnout of 1141.

Once again, we see that young people are engaged and they vote.

YP4 Network: if you have turnout numbers from your campus polling sites - please share them with us!