ACCOUNTING FOR THE YOUTH VOTE 2

Exit poll statistics (from cnn.com) on the past two presidential elections:

In the 2000 elections, 39% of voters were card-carrying Democrats, 35% were Republicans. Of the 39% Democrat voters, 86% voted Democrat (thus, 14% crossed the party line and voted Republican). Of the 35% Republican voters, 91% voted Republican (thus, 9% crossed the party line and voted Democrat).

The voters in the 2004 elections were evenly divided. Again, more Republicans voted the party line compared to the Democrats (93% vs 89%).

17% of the 2004 voters were in the age bracket 18 – 29. Of these 17%, 45% voted Republican vs 54% voting Democrat. Of the 26% voters without any declared party affiliation, 48% voted Republican, while 49% voted Democrat.

Where do you think the youth vote figures in this equation?

Images from Microsoft Clipart