Despite the inconclusive results for national youth voter turnout, Penn clearly demonstrated its heightened political engagement yesterday when students voted in record numbers.
According to Penn Leads the Vote -- a non-partisan youth voter turnout campaign on campus -- the turnout for the polling stations on campus was up an estimated 280 percent from the 2000 presidential election.
"Our work was not really about whether Bush or Kerry won, but instead about getting out the youth vote and representing the youth voice," Co-President of Penn Leads the Vote Jason Oberman said.
There were approximately 3,100 votes cast in the five precincts on campus, with many more students voting in off-campus areas.
"Politicians will have to speak to Penn students in future elections," Oberman said. "We have shown that we do turn out to vote ... and that we are a large voice in the election process and politics" in general.
Nationally, however, the story is different. Despite the successful registration campaigns targeting the youth vote, many reports indicate that youth turnout fell below expectations.
"The media set the bar very high," Annenberg Public Policy Center senior analyst Kate Kenski said "We need to wait for some turnout reports in the next few days, because right now we aren't exactly sure where the numbers are at. ... At the very least, it didn't fall short of years past."
According to The Associated Press, 9 percent of the electorate was composed of 18- to 24-year-olds -- the same proportion seen in 2000. And although final breakdowns are not yet available, the preliminary estimates are disappointing to many. However, since overall voter turnout was up, the number of young voters was higher, if not the percentage.
"There were high registration numbers all across the country," Oberman said. "It didn't really turn out the way everyone wanted."
But the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement released information yesterday indicating that "at least 20.9 million Americans under the age of 30 voted in 2004." This was a 4.6 million increase over the last presidential election.
And according to information released by CIRCLE, the voter turnout in battleground states was significantly higher than elsewhere. According to national exit polls cited by CIRCLE, young voters chose the Democratic ticket by a 10 percent margin.
A sustained effort and strong organization were important reasons for the successful turnout on campus, Penn Leads the Vote Co-President Farrah Freis said.
"A voter registration effort needs to precede a voter turnout effort," Freis said. "I think our strength was that we reached the student through student leaders."
According to Oberman, Penn's campus was also held in high regard by the New Voters Project -- a national non-partisan young voter campaign -- which touted Penn as a "model campus."
"Penn student groups, partisan and non-partisan, were very involved and energetic with this election," Penn American Civil Liberties Union President Michael Patterson said. "I think the framework between the organizations here at Penn was excellent. ... I don't know how effectively that was replicated by schools across the country."
Roughly 50 volunteers involved with Penn Leads the Vote were out Tuesday encouraging students to cast their ballots. Penn ACLU had monitors at all on-campus polling locations giving out voters rights cards, prepared to report any problems.
In fact, leaders from Penn Leads the Vote said that voter turnout was so high that, when they made their last push near the time of the polls closing, there were very few students who had not yet voted.
"We didn't try to get people to vote. We tried to get educated people to vote," Freis said.
Leaders hope that the Election Day energy seen on campus will motivate everyday civic engagement and lively political discourse among students.
