Young Voter Turnout Surpassing 2006 Vote Tallies in PA & NC & FL at 9:30 p.m. EDT
As polls close around the country, reports from youth-dense precincts where Rock the Vote aggressively targeted young people in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida indicate that voter turnout amongst those ages 18-29 has already exceeded 2006 levels. *See tallies below.
“We are encouraged by youth surges in participation on campuses like the University of North Carolina, North Carolina Central University, University of Florida, Drexel University and the University Pennsylvania. Rock the Vote has been on the ground at concerts, festivals and football games at those campuses registering voters, and contributing to this uptick.” says Rock the Vote President Heather Smith.
According to an initial report from CIRCLE, youth represented 9%-10% of all voters in 2010, compared to 12% in 2006, citing an exit poll conducted by Edison Mitofsky Research National Election Pool. These figures are expected to change as Election Day statistics continue to be announced, and they are not a reflection of final turnout numbers.
An official release from CIRCLE states: “At this time we cannot yet determine whether youth turnout rose, stayed the same or declined in comparison to the 2006 midterm elections. Youth share of voters is widely reported in the media but is not a good measure of turnout. The youth share of voters is strongly influenced by how other groups turn out, whereas youth turnout is a measure of youth participation.”
Rock the Vote will continue to monitor youth participation figures from around the country, as well as vote tallies in the areas that our efforts targeted. Rock the Vote executed both voter registration and aggressive voter mobilization efforts that included e-mail and text messages, door knocking and phone-calling, as well as public service announcements on TV, radio and online in 5 states across the country.
“More than 300,000 people downloaded a voter registration form from Rock the Vote this year, compared to 50,000 that we registered in 2006.” says Smith. “We are excited to see increased turnout and positive effects from our registration and turnout efforts in the communities we invested in.”
*Vote Tallies are included below
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North Carolina (Orange County) University of North Carolina (Country Club): University of North Carolina (East Franklin): North Carolina Central University (Durham 55-49): Florida University of Florida (Alachua-31)
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Pennsylvania Drexel (24/10) University of Pennsylvania (27/19) University of Pennsylvania (27/20) University of Pennsylvania (27/21) University of Pennsylvania (27/22) |
Stay tuned:
Tonight, Rock the Vote will continue to track young voter turnout tallies in the precincts that our efforts targeted, as well as national trends. Rock the Vote President Heather Smith is available throughout the night for interviews regarding the youth vote statistics.
At 10:00 am ET on Wednesday, November 3rd CIRCLE, Rock the Vote, and The Generational Alliance members will provide an in-depth analysis of young voter turnout in the November 2nd midterm elections. RSVP to media@rockthevote.com for details about the call.
About Rock the Vote |
www.rockthevote.org
Rock the Vote engages young people in our democracy and builds their political power by registering, educating and turning them out to vote, by forcing the candidates to campaign to them, and by making politicians pay attention to youth and the issues they care about once in office. For 20 years, we have used music, popular culture, new technologies and old-fashioned grassroots organizing to engage and mobilize young people to participate in every election. By providing them with the information and tools they need since 1990, Rock the Vote has registered more than 5 million young people, including more than 2.5 million in the historic 2008 election. In 2010, Rock the Vote has logged more than 280,000 voter registration downloads as part of the largest midterm elections outreach strategy in our organization’s history.