To all the skeptics

There have been some great news stories out there lately about how many new people - particularly new young adults - are getting registered to vote this year. Nine million according to the Associated Press - and here at Rock the Vote, we hit two million registration downloads last week, and are already long past that, ending last week at 2.3 million.

But at the same time, I'm seeing tons of stories with headlines like "Young voters: Engaged, but will they vote?"or with skepticism like in that Associated Press story, which follows talk of new registrations with sentences like "If they show up" and the authoritative-sounding "Historically, voter turnout among new registrants has been low."

Now, when I read that, I got suspicious. I know that in 2004, 81.6% of registered 18-29 year olds voted, a turnout rate not low by any definition.

Of course, not all of those were new voters, so I decided to check it out a bit further.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2004:

• 83.3% of registered 18-year-olds voted;
• 79% of registered 19-year-olds voted;
• 81% of registered 20-year-olds voted;
• 82.3% of registered 21-year-olds voted.
  

Nearly all of these voters were "new" by virtue of age, and all were new to a presidential election.

What's the lesson? Whether young or new, or young and new, if a person is registered to vote, they are very likely to cast a ballot.

So to all the skeptics I want to say - knock it off! You're telling the easy story, the "will those darn kids really vote?" - but not the factual story. Don't believe me, believe the facts: you can be sure that those kids will indeed overwhelm the polls come November 4th.

Now, does that mean political campaigns or organizations like Rock the Vote should look at the new registration numbers and sit back and relax for the next three weeks? Of course not. (damn)

For the campaigns, the fight is only beginning for the hearts and minds of these new voters - while our polling does show that young voters heavily favor Senator Obama, there are plenty of young voters for all candidates to target and persuade - 44 million eligible 18-29 year olds, to be exact, from the most diverse generation in American history. A prime persuasion and turnout target for both presidential campaigns and for candidates on down the ballot. And you can bet that the campaigns that get out there and ask for young people's votes - go to campus, knock our doors, attend candidate forums, and phonebank us - will reap the benefits on Election Day.

And for Rock the Vote and our partners in nonpartisan youth outreach, we want to make sure that we get young people all the information they need to vote on Election Day - polling place info, facts on voting rights, early voting and absentee voting details, and more.

Voting can be confusing for those brand new to the process - what ID do I need? where do I go? can I vote where I go to school? how do I get an absentee ballot? - and we're hard at work making sure we make that info available to everyone we can reach. (check out our Election Center) Part of the reason 81.6% of 18-29 year olds voted in 2004 was the massive GOTV efforts Rock the Vote and other organizations - PIRGs New Voters Project, the U.S. Student Association, Black Youth Vote, Music for America, the Bus Project, the College Republicans, the Young Democrats, and more - implemented leading up to Election Day. And we're doing the same - just more and better - this year.

So please, skeptics, give the youth of America some credit. Or at least get the facts straight. We're paying attention, we're getting registered, we're organizing our friends, and we're planning to vote. We'll see you on Election Day.