The Nevada Sagebrush

Photo Illustration By Tony Contini/Nevada Sagebrush: Studies show interest in voting among university students to be low. University professors say this lack of attention on local and national politics results in less representation for youth in Washington.

Students can get rides to the polls on a giant tricycle. They can get free stickers and baked treats if they pledge to cast their ballots. They can even get a feeling of participation in American democracy when their elders ask if their voice was heard.

But, despite the perks, most young students probably won’t vote in this election.

Their reasons are vast, whether it’s making a conscious choice in protest, being too busy to stay informed or simply not having ample reason to care. Whatever their reasons, though, the numbers are impossible to ignore.

According to statistics from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, 25.5 percent of United States citizens ages 18-29 voted in the last midterm election in 2006. Older citizens voted at a rate more than double that number.

Comparing the statistics with more glamorous presidential elections shows little correlation between peaks and valleys and the relatively stagnant off-year numbers, dulling the hopes of political organizers that youthful zeal may remain from the 2008 election.

“It’s just not important in their lives,” said William Eubank, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. “Young people just aren’t connected, and there’s no reason they should be.”

In general, young people simply find that most election issues don’t matter to them, Eubank said.

“As people get older, they acquire the things in life meaningful to them — husbands, wives, houses, children and things like that,” he said. “When you have those things, you care more about taxes, healthcare and other issues.”

For some students, not voting is a conscious choice. Rational ignorance, a term used by political scientists for those who snub political happenings because of the disparity between the cost of time and the benefits, is often high among young citizens.

“Given that the costs of voting far exceed its benefits, perhaps the question to ask is not why don’t people vote, but why they ever do,” said David Ryfe, a journalism professor at UNR.

Many students believe their vote holds little sway overall and find it isn’t worth spending time that would be better used studying for classes or doing other activities, Ryfe said.

Daniel Trouwborst, an 18-year-old math major, said he is registered to vote in Colorado but is uninformed and uninterested in the election this year. The midterm is too much to keep track of with homework and classes to pay attention to, he said.

“I haven’t really followed anything,” Trouwborst said. “I don’t really know what’s going on.”

Aside from being too busy, Trouwborst said he and his peers feel like their votes will change little in a system already set in stone.

“Younger people think their one vote won’t make a difference,” he said. “That’s how I feel sometimes.”

Like Trouwborst, many youth are disaffected by the raging political debates that sweep up the country biannually, said Eric Herzik, a UNR political science professor. A lack of relevance can result in apathy, he said.

“Much of it centers from a general lack of interest in politics,” Herzik said. “People often do not feel that politics matters in their daily life.  This is especially the case for younger voters who are often less fixed to a particular location …”

But student attitude toward voting can change with exposure, said Jordan Butler, a member of the nonpartisan voting promoters Re-Energize the Vote.

Butler has been asking students to vote on campus since mid-August. Students will participate in the political process if they are engaged but someone needs to get the idea in their head, he said.

“I think if we hadn’t been here, students wouldn’t have been exposed (to the political process),” Butler said. “As far as registering to vote is concerned, people don’t wake up in the morning and think about it.”

Khang Le, a 18-year-old electrical engineering major, said he’s tired of political advertisements and people asking him to vote. He said fellow students have pestered him about voting for months.

Le called his generation “lazy” when it comes to political involvement.

This laziness is more than just student ignorance of politics, Herzik said. The end result is the younger generation being disregarded by politics.

“By not being a coherent or forceful voting block, the interests of youth do get less attention from political decision makers,” he said. “Older voters have a disproportionate say on issues relating to, say, healthcare or social security because they vote.”

Nevada Sagebrush reporter Ben Miller contributed to this article. Jay Balagna and Don Weinland can be reached at news@nevadasagebrush.com.

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