COUNTDOWN YOUTH VOTE 2012(YV2K12)

Be a Piece of Something Big!

In 2008, the big election story was the youth vote!  Between 2000 and 2008, young voter increased their turnout by 11% and many experts report that it was young voters who handed the President his win.   More impressive, young voters in NJ outpaced the national average and scored a 13% increase. Sadly, however, in 2009 gubenetorial election, those same young voters did not turnout;  in fact that election witnessed a decrease of 6% as compared with the previous gubentorial data.  So what happened? 

Why did young people sit out the 2009 election?  Likewise,  in the 2010 mid-term Congessional elections,  young people also slipped as compared with the last midterm elections. But why?  We know young voters are not more satisfied or less worried: they are as a generation  experiencing record breaking unemployment, student debt, and the a new spike in student loan default rates is evident.

So will young voters rally in 2012 or will they sit on the sidelines and  let the "grown-ups" decide their futures?

ADP's YV2K12 campaign is premised on the research demonstrating that young voters are more likely to register to vote when approached by a peer.   The evidence is also crystal clear that young people are more likely to  actually vote   when candidates and parties directly address their issues, using the social media and other communication modes commonly used by the young. (see www.civicyouth.org )

Heading into the 2012  Election,  ADP at WP  is launching a campus and community-based campaign to register 1000 new young voters ages 18-24.   The campaign will seek to register college and non-college attending young people, with special attention on those with the lowest turnout rates. The campaign seeks off to remind eligible young voters that they have the numerical power to determine the outcome of the next presidential election!