With the presidential election now less than a year away,getting out the young vote seems to be a concern among many of thepresidential candidates. Now the challenge is just to get the youngpeople themselves interested.
"Everyone should vote," said freshman Sally Joyner, an Englishmajor. "If you want any sort of control over who runs the city, thestate or the country, you have to vote. I know many young peoplewho have strong opinions and ideas, but they don't vote, so theiropinion is meaningless. Also, you have no right to complain if youdon't vote."
Sophomore Chuck Grimes, a political science major and vicepresident of the College Republicans, agreed.
"As the saying goes, if you don't vote, don't complain," saidGrimes. "I do believe that the stereotype of young people notvoting is over emphasized. There are far too many of us who don'tvote though."
Grimes said student political organizations have aresponsibility to encourage young voters above all else.
"When the College Republicans were registering people to vote,we offered a voting form to an elderly woman," said Grimes. "Shesaid she had never voted in her life, which saddened me. I think ifyou don't catch people when they're young, they may nevervote."
There is one organization that has been getting young citizensto vote since 1990, and that is Rock the Vote.
The non-partisan, non-profit organization's goal is to increaseyouth voter turnout by engaging youth in the political processthrough entertainment and activities, according to the group's Website.
Many point to Rock the Vote as instrumental in getting the youngvote turnout in the 1992 presidential election, when 2 million newyoung people went to the polls. This reversed a 20-year declinewith a 20 percent increase in youth voting.
Rock the Vote booths have been found on tours of artists such asDave Matthews and have street teams based in many cities. Rock theVote found itself in Memphis last August at concert held by theDixie Chicks, one of the acts promoting Rock the Vote thisyear.
However, even with organizations like Rock the Vote trying tomake a difference, there are still a variety of reasons why youngpeople don't vote.
"I never know enough about the candidates to make an intelligentdecision," said freshman Paul Lynch. "Most of the important issueswon't affect us until we get out of college."
A lack of interest also seems to contribute to poor young voterturnout.
"Politics just don't interest me," said sophomore Mason Chumpia,a biology major. "I guess I should vote, but I don't have properknowledge on many of the issues."
However, as seen in the 1992 election, the young vote can bepowerful and has now become a major election issue amongcandidates, which is all a matter of accessibility, said politicalscience professor Robert Blanton.
"Candidates need to appear in non traditional places," saidBlanton. "For example, in the 1992 election, Bill Clinton appearedon MTV. Overall, he appeared a lot more in touch with the youth asopposed to Bush (Sr.), who came across confused and didn't work theyoung voters."
