18-29-year-old voters increased

So what happened?

Fifty-four percent of those surveyed favored the Democratic ticket-holder, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. Although the 18-29 year old voter turnout rose, so did the numbers for the rest of the demographics, canceling out the increase.

Twenty million 18-29 year old voters were expected to swarm the polls on Nov. 2, 2004, and they did. In fact, more than 21 million young voters turned out to rule the polls, but their voices were drowned out by the increased voter turnout in all age groups.

Even with the increase in young votes, the overall percentage they contributed remained the same at about 17-18 percent.

"It's important for anyone to get involved because government effects us in everyday life," said Steven Mulroy, assistant professor of law.Mulroy said it is especially important for young people to care about politics.

"Things the grown-ups are making decisions about are running lives of young people," he said. "Young people need to vote so they have a say in what goes on in their own daily lives."

Mulroy asserted that if all the voters from the young demographic had voted, Kerry would have won the presidency.

Young people did vote, according to CIRCLE. It reported that of the near-40 million eligible 18-29 year old voters, 53 percent showed up to cast their ballots. That number is up 5.8 percent from the 2000 election when only 16 million voters in that age group went to the polls.

That increase could be attributed to voter awareness programs aimed at recruiting young voters to speak their minds and make their choices. MTV, New Voter's Project and Declare Yourself all worked toward increasing young voter interest for the 2004 election.

Mulroy admitted he was skeptical of the affect those organizations had on voter turn out.

"I first thought that it was a publicity stunt, but I have read releases by those companies that the rate of turnout has increased since 2000," Mulroy said.

Among the most familiar campaigns is MTV's Rock the Vote campaign, which worked all year to raise voter awareness in American youth and registered nearly 1.5 million first-time voters.

Declare Yourself, a new nonprofit, nonpartisan organization geared to encourage young people to vote, registered more than 1.1 million new voters this year.

Although these groups helped increase voter registration across the country, University of Memphis students had other motivations for voting.

"I did not see much of that campaign because I was out of the country, but I still felt it was really important to vote," said Amy Combs, freshman biology major.

"I took my dad's advice and voted absentee ballot, but it was complicated," she said. Combs is from Knoxville and could not make it home to vote.

Freshman Alex Hartsell, business management major, said he was just plain excited to vote.

"It's like the first time you get to drive a car," he said. "It was cool to actually know I could contribute to society."

Hartsell said, in his Introduction to Modern Political Thought class, they talked about politics and the election. But he added that he'd already made up his mind based on his family background.

Mulroy said that students should stay involved in politics and follow current events even if they are not particularly interested.

"With the Internet, it is easy to stay informed," he said. "Five to ten minutes online every day will keep you informed."

Mulroy recommended students sign up to receive e-mailed papers. He said "Today's Papers" -- from Slate publishing company -- is a great resource because they deliver the major news in a summary with hyperlinks to expand on subjects.

"They do all the work for you," he said. "There is no excuse for not being informed."

Slate magazine service is offered through the slate.msn.com Web site. Students can sign up to receive "Today's Papers" by clicking the link.