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February 12, 2012

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Both parties targeting young, first-time voters

With voter rolls shrinking, Democrats and Republicans alike are seeking to bolster registration by going after groups with historically low participation.

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Steve Marcus

Organizing for America student volunteer Susan Taylor helps her friend Robert Gomez, a UNLV senior, register to vote at UNLV Tuesday, August 24, 2010. Due to the economy, many of the young voters that swept President Obama and Rep. Dina Titus to victory in 2008 have left the area. Mid-term elections are also historically uninteresting to young voters. Organizing for America and the Democratic Party are trying to recruit first-time voters to fill in that gap.

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Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010 | 2 a.m.

Young Voters

UNLV freshman Ollie Hernandez, 18, finishes registering to vote at an Organizing for America booth on UNLV campus Tuesday, August 24, 2010. Due to the economy, many of the young voters that swept President Obama and Rep. Dina Titus to victory in 2008 have left the area. Mid-term elections are also historically uninteresting to young voters. Organizing for America and the Democratic Party are trying to recruit first-time voters to fill in that gap. Launch slideshow »

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The great Las Vegas exodus that has left houses vacant, stores empty and construction projects half built has also decimated voter rolls.

As thousands of residents left to seek jobs and better opportunities elsewhere, the state experienced a major drop in voter registration. Today, the Las Vegas Valley has 13 percent fewer registered voters than it did two years ago.

Some of the loss can be attributed to the nature of this November’s ballot. Midterm elections are never as popular with voters as picking a president. In 2006, fewer than 37 percent of registered Nevada voters cast ballots. Two years later during the presidential race, almost 60 percent went to the polls.

Much of the decline, however, is unique to Las Vegas and its shrinking population.

“We know there’s a vacuum,” said Jose Moreno-Jimenez, spokesman for Organizing for America, the successor group of the Democratic voter outreach group Obama for America. “We know people have moved. So we’re focusing on new voters.”

Democrats are using the same playbook they used in 2008, when the Obama campaign swept through Nevada and grass-roots volunteers registered enough new voters — many of them young — to carry the state. Republicans have learned from their mistakes and are adopting similar tactics. Both parties are courting the elusive 18-to-25 demographic: students who are new to the state, young people who weren’t involved in the last election cycle, teens who have had birthdays and are for the first time old enough to vote.

Young people, ages 18 to 25, make up about 8 percent of Nevada’s population but often fail to engage in the political process.

“What we are hearing from the youth is, ‘We’re not being asked,’ ” Moreno-Jimenez said. “So we’re asking.”

Last week on the UNLV campus and at UNR, volunteers and paid staffers braved the heat to try to engage students and register them to vote. It wasn’t always easy. Although both parties said they registered about 100 new voters during two days of outreach, many of the college students seemed more concerned with their iPods than with exercising their right to vote.

Volunteers heard excuses about being late to class or having to meet someone. Students promised to return but never did. Several just turned their heads away and kept walking when approached by a volunteer with a clipboard.

“I’ll do it as soon as I have time,” said one young man, who turned a corner and stood for almost half an hour talking with friends.

“For every one that we convince, there’s about 30 more people who say, ‘My vote doesn’t matter,’ ” said Matthew Jarzen, 22, chairman of the UNLV College Republicans. “Our generation would rather be on YouTube and Facebook than going out and meeting a candidate for Congress and finding out their position on taxes. That’s obviously not very sexy.”

Click to enlarge photo

Steve Marcus

Jose Moreno-Jimenez, press secretary for Organizing for America, tries to attract students to register to vote at UNLV Tuesday, August 24, 2010.

Young people are typically the least active age group when it comes to voting. In the last midterm election, in 2006, 20 percent of Nevadans ages 18 to 29 voted. By comparison, 37 percent of people ages 30 to 44 voted. Turnout was even greater in older age brackets.

Turnout among young people boomed in 2008 — nearly 40 percent of registered 18-to-24-year-olds voted early in Nevada — but this year there is no charismatic presidential candidate trying to make history, so experts expect a steep decline.

“A young person in their 20s may not have children or live in a set place. They may not feel like they are a stakeholder in their community,” said Abby Kiesa, youth coordinator and researcher for the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, a nonpartisan think tank based at Tufts University in Massachusetts.

To be fair, students have a lot on their plates, especially the first week of school. They’re adjusting to college life, finalizing class schedules, buying books, worrying about getting a job when they graduate.

But students engaged in the political process argue that those concerns are all the more reason to vote.

“A lot of time, education is first on the chopping block,” said Aaron Javinar, 19, a junior biochemistry major. “Students have to be proactive. Budget cuts, education programs — those affect me and everyone on this campus. If your class is cut, it can screw you up for a year. If your program gets cut, you have to choose a new major.”

“If you don’t vote, you’re kind of letting things happen to you instead of taking charge,” said Gerald Fairley, 18, a freshman who registered to vote with the help of OFA staffers. “If all college students started voting, that’s a lot of influence.”

Studies have found the most effective way to engage young people is to speak with them face to face, Kiesa said. Door-to-door canvassing has proved most powerful, she said.

OFA members canvassed neighborhoods Saturday in Henderson and Reno, targeting people who voted for the first time in 2008, sporadic voters and newly registered voters. The group also enlisted sorority girls to participate in a “Latina to Latina” phone bank. And they’re working on getting registered voters to sign pledge cards, committing to vote in November. The pledge cards double as postcard reminders that will be mailed out shortly before Election Day.

College Republicans have reached out to fraternity and sorority members to try to register voters and spread their message. Jarzen said the Young Republicans speak at political forums with audiences generally hostile to conservative ideas to tell people “it’s OK to be young, and it’s OK to be a Republican.”

The GOP is banking on selling its candidates’ job-creation plans to young voters who are trying to break into the tough employment market. Democrats hope to capitalize on lingering Obama momentum to get down-ticket Democrats elected.

“Our approach to young voters is, ‘You need to get Obama’s back,’ ” Moreno-Jimenez said. “The way you get his back is by keeping Harry Reid in office.”

Several local candidates have visited college campuses to talk to students and try to earn their vote. But some students said candidates need to work harder to connect with them.

“They talk about the budget generally but not the details that really affect students,” said Spencer Tiberi, 19, a junior majoring in education at UNLV.

Students want to hear candidates’ specific plans about how they will help young people pay for college, guarantee they’ll have health care, help them find a job.

“It’s especially important for Republicans, who have been losing this demographic,” Jarzen said. “They’re slowly realizing.”

Discussion: 2 comments so far…

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  1. By Det__Munch
    Aug. 31, 2010
    11:14 a.m.
    Flag

    Unless the 18-30 year olds can get the ballot via email or text and then text their votes in, neither party should count on them.

  2. By ThomasShermspun
    Aug. 31, 2010
    6:45 p.m.
    Flag

    I'm still trying to figure out this reported 13% reduction in registered voters. Officials have only admitted to a 1% drop in population; are they perhaps missing a major demographic shift in the Valley?

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Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy.

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