2012 Youth Vote Called Similar to 2008

A new report says that almost half of Americans under the age of 30 voted in this week’s election. In Wisconsin, most of them voted for President Obama.

The report from a Tufts University research group says youth voter turnout this year was on par with 2008.

At Marquette University, student and College Democrats of Wisconsin chair Andy Suchorski says voter turnout was up in the student-heavy wards surrounding the school. He attributes it to a combination of hardwork and students being more engaged than predicted.

“The issues that President Obama was talking about – women’s health, letting women decide choices for themselves, or marriage equality, or student loans, student loan reform, Pell Grant – these are issues that really resonated with students,” he says.

Edison Research’s National Exit Poll found 21% of Wisconsin voters this week were under the age of 30. Of that group, 60% voted for President Obama.

Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans Chair Tim Duffy says it’s been a challenge getting younger people to join the party since the Reagan years.The UW-Eau Claire senior says he’s looking forward to seeing how the GOP more actively targets its message at younger voters.

“Most of them I believe are fiscal issues,” he says.”The economy is not as good as it should be. I think that resonates with a lot of students. We all want jobs when we graduate and the economy is just not holding up to it, supporting our futures.”

Duffy also says college loan debt and the high cost of education are other issues that he says will gain more traction over time.