Youth of America, stand up and be counted!

For the first time in American presidential history, campaign success may rest largely in the hands of young voters, said Michael Wagner, a UNL political science professor. "The Obama campaign believes the youth vote will actually be enough to sway some states their way," he said.

Reshell Ray, associate director of UNL student involvement, agreed the youth vote will be significant. "This generation [of college-aged voters] could - will - make the difference," she said.

Wagner said more young people voted than ever before in the 2004 political election. But because more people of all ages voted, the youth vote increase did not do much to influence the election. (See table.)

He said young people are more involved in this election than ever before. "And this time, they have the potential to create a consequential influence," Wagner said.

Many students seem to recognize their importance. (See student interviews.)

"As students of the University of Nebraska, we do make up a pretty big portion of District 2, so it's really important for students to be engaged in what's going on," said Nathan Skaggs, a senior marketing and international business major. "Whoever's elected for the next four years is going to have a huge impact on our lives as we're going out into the real world."

Freshman Elly Jurgensen said, "I think it's important this year for college students to really get out and vote to kind of prove the perceptions wrong and just show that you care about your country."

But young voters -- aged 18-24 -- have not always been so instrumental to campaign success because they have generally not participated in the election process.

Wagner said young people tend to abstain from voting for two reasons: "They tend not to see how the political system affects them," and because "politicians really don't do much for younger citizens." Therefore, young voters often do not feel they have any stake in the elections.

"They don't wake up each morning and think, ‘How can I hold government accountable today?'" Wagner said. "So they're less likely to follow the news and learn about political issues."

But now, with both presidential candidates trying to appeal to young voters, the youth are starting to pay attention, Wagner said.

To encourage young and often first-time voters to take part in the election, Lincoln's KCWL and UNL's Campus Night Life organization collaborated to bring "Rock the Vote" to UNL on Friday, Sept. 26.

The event was one of many occurring on college campuses nationwide, designed to "engage and incite young people to register and vote in every election," according to the official Rock the Vote Web site.

On Friday night, students filled UNL's city campus union and plaza - coincidentally on the night of the first presidential debate between Sen. John McCain (R- Ari.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D- Ill.). Students registered to vote, listened to live bands, enjoyed free food and T-shirts and made campaign buttons.

"It was great," Ray said. "About five to six hundred students came out ... because we appealed to many audiences."

Students were full of praise and enthusiasm for the event.

"It kind of makes voting fun and cool, I guess you could say, for students to do," said Amanda Crook, a junior political science major. "We get to make sweet buttons here, food, T-shirts and everything cool that people like."

Other students were pleased with the informative side of the event.

"I know a lot of my friends don't even know about things; they don't even know who they're voting for," said Tiffaney Tatro, a student from the College of Hair Design. "Coming out makes them realize who is out there."

While the event was well received by students and student organizations, Wagner and John Hibbing, another UNL political science professor, believe events geared toward making voting a social event are not necessarily the best method for engaging voters.

"I want people to vote," Hibbing said. "I don't want people to be tricked into believing voting is something that it's not."

He said what voters need more than excitement about voting is an actual understanding of how the political process works and what voters can realistically expect their efforts to accomplish.

"I'm afraid people will do it once and then be discouraged when they don't get everything they want," he said. "There's a lot of diversity in this country, so you can't always win - you can't always get your way."

Wagner echoed Hibbing's emphasis on encouraging voters to understand the process and keep participating even if their candidates and issues lose.

"We need to tell people there are winners and losers, and you'll lose more than you'll win," Wagner said. "Winning one-tenth of your issues is a good batting average in politics."

Talking about events like Rock the Vote, Wagner said, "The problem is that these types of motivations give people the false impression that all they have to do is show up once and you'll change the world. You can't expect that to happen. It won't," he said. "You need to continue rocking the vote even if the first time it didn't work the way you wanted."

The Obama campaign has a lot riding on its success in terms of transforming American youth into long-term voters, he said.

"If he loses, people will be turned away," Wagner said. "And if he wins but doesn't do everything [the young voters] want immediately, or at all, then people will again feel discouraged and disinclined to continue participating."

But Wagner and Hibbing agree that if American youth can be educated about the political system - and then encouraged to come out and vote - the country will benefit from knowledgeable voter participation.

"Young people can change the representation they get," Wagner said. "Politicians pay attention to those who turn out to vote."

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