Young Voters Prepare For Election Season
By: Alexandra Sutter
Updated: August 30, 2012
PEORIA -- As the race to November heats up, Republicans and Democrats are fighting for the youth vote.
Bradley Assistant Professor of Political Science Josh Ryan said voters aren't as excited as they were in 2008.
"In 2008 there was a lot more enthusiasm among young people. In a place like Illinois, we're just not getting as much exposure to the campaign because it is a safe state for Barack Obama," He said.
He said the younger population usually leans more to the left, but at this point, neither party has much of a chance at gaining many followers.
"For most young people and most people in general, they've probably made up their minds. There's actually very few people who are undecided and that includes young people," he said.
Ryan said only about three percent of voters are truly Independents. Some students say they feel they just need to be more educated before they cast their vote.
Sophomore Christina Zibart said, "Really what needs to happen is education materials need to go out and like people need to start being educated on the economy and on financials and then I feel like students would be able to make informed decisions for themselves."
Junior Elizabeth Sprague agrees. She said, "If I hear enough about it, if they post enough about it maybe around school or around campus maybe i'd be intrigued, interested by it."
Senior Jesse Rieker said Romney has always been his choice. "Some of the conservative principles that Mitt Romney stands for is what I stand for and also just his thoughts on the development of business and entrepreneurship. Hopefully someday wanting to be a business owner, it's important to me."
And Zibart is sticking to what she knows. "A lot of my social views are liberal so gay rights are really important to me so i'm leaning towards Obama because of that stance."
Ryan hopes he can get more of his students to take their opinions to the polls. "Young people often complain that they're not represented, that politicians don't care about their types of issues but on the other hand, they don't participate as much as other types of groups."
Election activity is starting to kick off at Peoria's Bradley University. The school plans to hold a campaign fair to get students involved.
