Young ‘millennials’ show interest in voting

VERONA, Wis. – They’ve gotten pregnant less often than teens of recent decades, are less likely to smoke or do illegal drugs, and have an interest in volunteering and public service.

Now signs are cropping up that the nation’s youngest young adults are bucking another trend: They’re taking an interest in voting.

“It’s important to us. What happens in this election is going to affect our generation,” says 18-year-old Katie Brew, who filled out a registration form shortly before graduating from Verona High School, just outside Madison.

About to head to the University of Nebraska for her freshman year, Brew is most worried about the potential for a draft. Others say the threat of terrorism and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have motivated them to get involved.

“We’ve been through things like 9-11 and the war on Iraq — all that junk. So we want to have a say,” says 18-year-old Mia Georgeson, another newly registered voter from Verona High who’s about to join the National Guard Army band as a percussionist.

Recent surveys of youths – most often college students – have provided conflicting data about the level of interest in the upcoming presidential election.

Still, several experts who track youth movements believe change is afoot, particularly among “millennials,” young adults born after 1981 who are coming of age in the new millennium. Now no older than 22, they represent millions of potential new voters.

Michael Wood, vice president of Teenage Research Unlimited, says the election has been coming up frequently – and spontaneously – during his talks with young people who serve as advisers for the Illinois-based market research company.

“I haven’t seen this much interest since 1992,” Wood says, referring to the first presidential election Bill Clinton won. It was the only presidential race since 1972, when the voting age was dropped to 18, in which turnout among the youngest voters topped 50 percent.

He agrees that the war in Iraq – and how it will affect their lives – is causing many teens to take notice. He also credits the many voting campaigns that target young people, including one spearheaded by MTV.