New Poll: Increased Youth Turnout Expected on Election Day

An increasing percentage of young voters plan to cast their ballots on Nov. 6, according to a new poll released by the Tufts University Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, or CIRCLE.

The survey, commissioned by the Youth Education Fund, polled 1,695 youth ages 18 to 29 in June and July and 1,109 of the same youth between Oct. 12 and 23, and found evidence of changing attitudes toward the election.

“The racial and ethnic group breakout shows that there is a rise in intent to vote among the three groups whom we polled in large numbers, with an impressive three-quarters of Black youth intending to vote,” said CIRCLE director Peter Levine.

Among those polled, 68.7 percent of White youth and 56.6 percent of Hispanic youth say they will cast their ballots next Tuesday.

Among extremely likely young voters, an increasing number said they were throwing their support behind President Obama—though less so among White youth compared to their Latino or African counterparts.

Since July, Obama has seen a 5.2 percent increase in support among White youth (33.8 to 39.0 percent); a 10.8 percent increase among Black youth (82.4 to 93.2 percent) and a 14.3 percent increase among Hispanic youth (46.6 to 60.9 percent).

Conversely, between June/July and October, Romney has lost both African-American voters (5 percentage point loss from 9.3 to 4.5 percent), and especially Hispanic voters (17 percentage point loss from 37.5 to 20.3 percent). He gained among young White voters, seeing an increase of 2.1 percentage points from 44.1 to 46.2 percent.

http://www.afro.com/sections/news/afro_briefs/story.htm?storyid=76597