| Iowa voters register more dems mostly independent { October 27 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041027/NEWS01/410270307/1079http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041027/NEWS01/410270307/1079
Wednesday, October 27, 2004 Younger voters want a say in '04
By Vanessa Miller Iowa City Press-Citizen
Picking up cleaning supplies, developing film and shopping for CDs are the things one typically accomplishes at Wal-Mart.
But when Lauren Marchese visited the super store one month ago, she left with something she wasn't expecting to get: She was registered to vote in Tuesday's election.
"There are so many voter registration campaigns going on," said Marchese, a 21-year-old University of Iowa senior from Barrington, Ill. "Like those on MTV."
That unprecedented push encouraging the nation's younger citizens to register and vote has had a significant effect locally, officials said. Nearly 40 percent more people ages 18 to 24 are registered in Johnson County today than during the 2000 presidential election. The number of new registrants in that age group -- those signing up between June 1 and Election Day -- is about 45 percent higher this year than it was four years ago.
"I think the Florida experience just made people of all ages realize how important a vote is," county auditor Tom Slockett said, referring to the slim 537-vote margin that President Bush defeated Democrat Al Gore in Florida during the 2000 elections. "Younger people are getting more concerned about their future. They have the most at stake."
According to Slockett, there are 84,678 people registered to vote in Johnson County. Of those, 23,468 are between the ages of 18 and 24, some 28 percent. In 2000, 73,609 people were registered to vote, including 16,715 ages 18 to 24 -- nearly 23 percent.
"It's been increasing so much because the political parties and groups have been pushing so hard this year," said David Redlawsk, an UI assistant professor of political science. "There are an unprecedented number of groups and people out there registering voters. The effort started with the Democratic-leaning groups as a way to try to build an organization to defeat Bush in the election. It was a strategic move, but once the groups were out there, both parties picked it up."
In Johnson County, the number of 18 to 24 year olds that have registered Democrat totals 8,075, more than double the Republican count of 3,900 for that age group. Dwarfing both, however, are the 11,439 voters ages 18 to 24 who have listed no party affiliation.
Should everyone registered take time to vote before or on Nov. 2, Redlawsk said the increased registration clearly favors Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry, locally and nationwide.
"In Johnson County, it favors the Democrats, no questions about it," he said.
Slockett said the number of new voters also has spiked this year compared to 2000. While 6,376 of the 10,092 people that registered between June 1 and Election Day in 2000 were in the 18-to-24 age group, 9,264 of the 14,297 that registered during that time period this year were in the younger age range.
"I've been a big part of that," said Jonathan Titus, a 26-year-old Iowa City resident who has been registering area citizens, mostly younger voters, through the Iowa Citizen Action Network Education Foundation based in Iowa City. He said the group has registered more than 10,000 people in Iowa.
"We've been registering them at grocery stores, gas stations and going door to door," Titus said.
Titus said it is important for young people to vote because elected officials will ignore the issues that affect them if they do not.
"They are not affected by people who don't vote for them," he said. "The younger people in America are vastly under-represented in the government because they don't vote."
In addition to an increased number of younger voters, officials said early voting is up as well.
As of Monday night, 26,465 people had voted early or requested an absentee ballot, 5,954 of which were age 18 to 24. The total number of people who voted early or requested absentee ballots during the 2000 election was 20,848.
"I already voted," Titus said Tuesday. "I'll be busy that day."
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