Volunteers are out to court the youth vote

Only 31 percent of Nevadans ages 18-24 voted In the 2000 election, but a new voting campaign program and local young people predict those numbers will increase during next week's general election.

To boost the number of youth voters in Nevada, which was 6 percent lower than the nationwide figures in 2000, the New Voters Project held an aggressive voter registration campaign targeting youth-friendly locales in Clark County and Washoe County.

The New Voters Project is the largest nonpartisan youth voting campaign in United States history. Sponsored by the National Association of State Public Interest Research Groups, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management, the campaign targeted six states this year, including Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Oregon, Wisconsin and New Mexico.

The chosen states all have a population of at least 2 million 18- to 24-year-olds eligible to vote.

"For the here and now, young people have a lot at stake in this election, and as long as they're not voting they're allowing other people to make their decisions for them," said Katie Selenski, Nevada's state director for the New Voters Project.

Hundreds of volunteers with the New Voters Project -- many within the targeted age group themselves -- registered about 26,000 people to vote in Nevada before deadlines passed, and about 15,000 were in the 18-24 age range. Volunteers could be found at college campuses, high schools and concert venues.

"We are very proud of those efforts," Selenski said. "Young people are hard to find, and Nevada hasn't really been targeted very intensively in the past."

Selenski said registering people to vote is just one step, which is why the second part of the New Voters Project is in full swing up until Nov. 2. Volunteers are aiming to contact at least 75 percent of young registered voters in Nevada, either by phone or on door-to-door campaign outings in various precincts, encouraging them to get to the polls on Tuesday.

Selenski said she believes more young Nevadans will vote in this election than in 2000.

"Young people have all sorts of political opinions," she said. "But if you don't start voting when you're young, you're a lot less likely to do it later."

A'shanti Gholar, vice president of the UNLV College Democrats and president-elect of Young Democrats of Nevada, also believes more young people care about the upcoming election.

"Political interest on campus has definitely spiked this year," she said. "The 2000 election really awakened a lot of people, especially youth."

Gholar, 23, said more than 200 students joined the UNLV College Democrats this semester, putting the organization's enrollment at close to 350.

She said UNLV's student body has become more engaged in politics this year, attending voter registration drives and speeches by political representatives visiting the school.

"If you look at both campaigns, they are definitely vying for the youth vote," she said. "I think this year we're going to see definite improvement."

A senior, Gholar voted in the 2000 election, and participated in early voting this month. She said while some people turning 18 are excited about strip clubs and cigarettes, she was eager to finally be able to vote.

"I've always been a pretty political person since I was younger," she said. "I feel we elect these people to represent us, and it's a right that you're given as an American."


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