News Releases

PennPIRG

April 23, 2008

Contact:

Sujatha Jahagirdar (323) 309 612

Erica Briant (609) 513 1216

Youth Vote Momentum Persists in Keystone Contest

[Philadelphia, PA] High young voter turnout rates seen in the presidential contest to date persisted in yesterday’s closely-watched Pennsylvania primary. 

“Once again, yesterday’s results show that the millennial generation is tuned in and turning out.” said Sujatha Jahagirdar, Program Director for the Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project. 

While a lack of exit polling in the 2000 and 2004 Pennsylvania primaries and of Republican voters this year prevents a full immediate analysis, all indications point to significant increases in youth turnout among young voters. 

A Student PIRG analysis of data provided by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, for instance, shows turnout rates among young Pennsylvania Democrats on par with those in states that posted up to 250 percent surges in the youth vote this year.   

In an additional analysis, after assuming a young Republican turnout ratio in Pennsylvania equal to the average in primary contests to date, estimated overall turnout rates in Pennsylvania equaled those of other states in which youth turnout surged earlier this year.

	2008 Young (18-29 yrs) Democrat Turnout* (% of Total Young Eligible Voters)	2008 Overall Young Voter (18-29 yrs) Turnout Rate (%)	Overall Youth Turnout Increase (2000-2008)
Pennsylvania	14	21**
Missouri	13	21	200%
Georgia	13	21	200%
Massachusetts	18	25	127%
Ohio	20	25	67%
Texas	13	17	183%
California	14	19	46%
Connecticut	8	12	71%
Florida	7	13	225%
Oklahoma	6	14	250%
Maryland	13	15	36%
Louisiana	5	7	133%

*Due to the lack of Republican exit poll data in the Pennsylvania contest, for the purposes of comparison to earlier contests authors removed Republican young voters from consideration and examined the number of young democrats that turned out as a percentage of the total number of young eligible voters in selected previous primaries.

**Assumes a young democrat to young republican turnout ratio of 2.12, the average young democrat to young republican turnout ratio in the above listed primary contests.   

Source: Authors analysis of data provided by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement

In the months leading up to yesterday’s primary, student volunteer leaders with the Student PIRGs New Voters Project organized ‘dorm storms,’ phone-banks, ‘get out the vote’ carnivals, shuttles to the polls, and debate-watching parties to ensure high turnout on campuses throughout the region. 

“The youth vote surges seen this year and the past several election cycles show that when you pay attention to young voters, young voters pay attention to politics,” concluded Jahagirdar. “As we look toward the final stretch of the primary season, we urge the candidates to continue to engage young people and ensure a more representative, vibrant democracy this election year.” 

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PennPIRG’s  mission is to deliver persistent, result-oriented public interest activism that protects consumers, encourages a fair, sustainable economy, and fosters responsive, democratic government.

The Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project is the nation’s largest youth voter mobilization program.  Since 2004, we have registered more than 600,000 young people and made more than 650,000 peer to peer voter turnout contacts to get young people to the polls on Election Day. Due in large part to our efforts, the youth vote increased by 4.3 million votes, or 9% in 2004 and an analysis of our work in 2006 found that in the student dense precincts in which we worked, youth voter turnout increased on average by 157%.