In 2004, the New Voters Project ran the largest grassroots youth voter mobilization effort in U.S. history. In 2006, the New Voters Project registered and mobilized 18-24 year-olds at 57 colleges and universities across the country. In 2008, the New Voters Project will mount an ambitious campaign to register and mobilize young voters at academic institutions throughout Florida and other states.
Results
2004 Elections
In 2004, the New Voters Project succeeded in becoming the largest
grassroots youth voter mobilization effort in this country's history.
We registered over 500,000 18-to-24 year-olds to vote, and contacted
more than 500,000 young registered voters during the get-out-the-vote
phase of the campaign.
Our work helped stop the decline in youth voter turout. Surveys show
that youth turnout increased to 47 percent - an eleven percentage point
increase over 2000 - with an astonishing 11.5 million 18-to-24 year-olds casting ballots.
2005 Elections
The New Voters Project focused on youth voter registration and
turnout in eight states in 2005. We registed over 18,000 voters and
made more than 48,000 get-out-the-vote contacts.
An analysis
of raw data by the Center for Information &
Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE) at the University
of Maryland looked at turnout in New Jersey and Virginia, the two
states with major off-year elections. Their study indicates that young
people voted in bigger numbers in the
gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia
in 2005 than they did in 2001.
2006 Elections
In fall 2006, the Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project worked on 80 college campuses in 22 states to boost voter turnout. We forged alliances with student government leaders, faculty and administrators and recruited over 1,100 students to lead or volunteer on their campus. Our hardworking coalition partners and student leaders registered 75,000 students to vote. Leading up to Election Day, we made 94,000 personalized Get Out the Vote reminders either over the phone or face-to-face.
The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) measured the turnout increase between 2002 and 2006 in student-dense precincts where we and other partners focused our efforts. The analysis focused on a set of 36 precincts in Ohio, Connecticut, Iowa, Colorado, and Michigan and found that average turnout in those precincts increased by 157 percent over 2002. Nationally, the increase in youth voter turnout was four times the rate of the general population’s increase (4 percent for youth, 1 percent overall).
