News Releases

For Immediate Release: November 7, 2006 9pm EST

Contacts:
Kathleen Barr, Young Voter Strategies
Phone: 202-994-9528
katbarr@gwu.edu

Dave Rosenfeld, Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project
Phone: 310-210-8410, daver@pirg.org

Hans Riemer, Rock the Vote
Phone: (202) 213-1072, hans@rockthevote.com

Young voter turnout in a set of targeted precincts increased by an average of 50% over the 2002 election, and by as much as 111% in some precincts, according to an Election Night analysis by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), continuing a national trend of growing young voter participation that began in the 2004 election.

"Based on numbers provided to us by the New Voters Project, it appears that in selected Ohio precincts with high concentrations of college students, the turnout increase was very substantial compared to 2002. Overall, the number of votes cast in those precincts increased by about 50%, ranging from 6% to 111% in specific precincts," said Peter Levine, Director of CIRCLE.

"The efforts at OSU are based on the sad fact that politicians just aren't addressing the issues that are most important to us. We wanted to show politicians that if you talk to us, we'll take part in the political process. And you can see by the results of our work, we proved we're a force to be reckoned with."," said OSU students and Student PIRG New Voters Project Coordinator, Beth Morrison.

This makes 2006 the third straight year where young voter turnout increased.  In 2004, 18-24 year old turnout surged by 11 percentage points, three times the rate of the general population.  And in 2005, an analysis of turnout in youth-dense precincts where the Student PIRGs’ worked in New Jersey and Virginia showed an increase of 19% and 15% over 2001 levels, respectively.  

The 2006 analysis focused on a set of 14 precincts in Ohio with a relatively high concentration of college students near universities that were the focus of nonpartisan Get Out the Vote efforts of the Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project.  The analysis compared voter turnout numbers from the 2002 General Election with today’s turnout numbers.  

The complete chart of precincts studied is as follows:

University	Precinct #	Total number of votes cast in 2002	Total number of votes cast in 2006	Percent increase over 2002
Ohio State U	16A	207	296	43.00%
Ohio State U	16B	252	287	13.89%
Ohio State U	39A	180	379	110.56%
Ohio State U	40B	175	327	86.86%
Ohio State U	41A	103	176	70.87%
Ohio State U	41B	182	286	57.14%
Ohio State U	41C	89	173	94.38%
Ohio State U	41D	104	110	5.77%
Ohio State U	41E	110	218	98.18%
Ohio State U	16C	197	305	54.82%
Ohio State U	16D	141	150	6.38%
Ohio State U	16E	133	142	6.77%
Ohio State U	18A	316	392	24.05%
Ohio State U	18C	379	671	77.04%
			Average Percent Increase	52.34%

Meanwhile reports continue to roll in from around the country of precinct tallies in Wisconsin, Colorado, and Michigan that have already exceeded 2002 final tallies.  Check www.youngvoterstrategies.org and www.newvotersproject.org for additional precinct tallies and other information as results come in.

“Early reports showing increased young voter turnout indicate that a new generation has arrived at the voting booth,” said Heather Smith, Director of Young Voter Strategies. “This year, we saw an unprecedented amount of activity to get young adults registered and voting and also saw dozens of campaigns put resources into turning out their young voters – and today we’re seeing this active, engaged generation make its voices heard at the polls.”

Additional precinct tallies will be published late tonight after all polls have closed.  Further, on Wednesday November 8th at 1pm EST, Young Voter Strategies, the bipartisan polling team of Ed Goeas and Celinda Lake, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, and the Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project will hold a teleconference to discuss state exit poll results for 18 to 29 year olds, additional precinct tallies, and the results of the Lake-Goeas Post-Election Young Voter Battleground Poll conducted for Young Voter Strategies.

Nonpartisan organizations involved in young voter mobilization and today’s data collection included in this news release include: AASCU’s American Democracy Project, Brimstone Services Register to Vote, Building Blocks, Building Votes, The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, Center for Civic Participation, Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, League of Young Voters Education Fund, Mobile Voter, Mobilize.org, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation’s Black Youth Vote!, National Council of La Raza, Rock the Vote, Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project, U.S. Student Association, Women’s Voices. Women Vote., WWE’s Smackdown Your Vote, and Young Voter Strategies.


Rock the Vote is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to building political power for young people.  Rock the Vote registered 1.4 million voters in 2004.  In 2006, Rock the Vote is focusing on tapping into online social networks, user generated content, and more cutting edge Internet-based outreach tactics for reaching young voters. www.rockthevote.com

The Student Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) are non-partisan, student directed, state-based organizations that work to solve public interest problems related to the environment, consumer protection, and government reform. For 30 years, students involved with PIRG chapters on college campuses have had a chance to face up to society's big problems, take action, and win concrete changes that improve the quality of our lives. The goal of the Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project is to increase youth electoral participation and show politicians and opinion leaders that young voters are an important constituency, deserving and demanding of their attention. www.studentpirgs.org

Young Voter Strategies, a project of the Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University, with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that provides the public, parties, candidates, consultants, and nonprofits with data on the youth vote and tools to effectively mobilize this electorate for upcoming elections.  We are committed to making the targeting of young voters a more permanent part of electoral strategies. www.youngvoterstrategies.org