Although student voter registration numbers are rising, the

number of students who actually vote is not changing, said

Betty Coffrin, Coles County clerk.

Coffrin said the number of registered students at Eastern has

risen significantly through the help of student groups such as

the Student Senate, which helped organize registration days on

campus. She said many more greek organizations are helping out

by becoming registration deputies as well.

Coffrin said organized efforts such as “Rock the Vote” also are

helping to raise the number of registered voters.

“Actually, tons of students register when they hold drives,”

said Sheryl Thomas, deputy clerk for Coles County.

The problem remains, however, that students don’t actually vote

on Election Day, Coffrin said.

In the November 2000 elections, there were a total of 30,142

registered voters in Coles County. Of those, 20,580 actually

voted. Out of five precincts that include Eastern students,

there were 3,216 registered voters, of which 2,246 voted, a

69.8 percent voter turnout rate. Three precincts are strictly

Eastern and reported 1,601 registered voters with 1,137 voting

on Election Day, a 71 percent voter turnout rate.

“Those (numbers) are actually good,” Thomas said.

Coffrin said part of the problem in low voter turnout is the

busy life that many students lead. It takes time to go to a

polling place and cast a vote. Coffrin said five polling places

are either on or within walking distance of Eastern’s campus.

“I know sometimes Election Day comes around, (and) they just

don’t get time to go to the polls,” Coffrin said.

Coffrin said one of the biggest problems she sees is that

politicians overlook the 18 to 24-year-old age bracket, as

people that age will not vote.

“People have already counted them out,” Coffrin said.

Rich Wandling, chair of the political science department at

Eastern, said political scientists and politicians overlook

younger voters because they don’t vote.

“It’s one of the predictable aspects (of elections),” Wandling

said.

He said young voters are often distracted by other time

constraints such as classes or careers on Election Day. He said

many people don’t become regular voters until they are

closer to age 30.

“The closer you get to age 30, the greater (you have the) sense

politics has an impact on your welfare,” Wandling said. “Things

become more and more real to you.”

Wandling said the highest voter turnout age groups are between

30 and 70 years old.

“A lot of the issues . focus on middle aged to elderly people,”

he said.

At the neglection2000.com Web site, it states that both Al Gore

and George Bush aimed at voters over the age of 50 this

election season, particularly people over the age of 35. The

site said people over the age of 50 compromise 36.6 percent of

the population, yet represent 63.8 percent of the viewing

audience of the presidential candidates’ commercials.

Those between the ages of 18 and 34 make up 31 percent of the

voting-age population, but only 14.1 percent of the viewing

audience.

The site also brings the Internet into play, saying younger

voters are looking to the Internet for sources of information

but not for sites put out by the traditional media or the

candidates themselves.

The Web site conducted a poll after the Democratic National

Convention to see if there was interest for one of the three

presidential debates to focus on younger viewers issues.

Eighty-five percent of the voters between 18 and 34 said they

liked the idea, while 68 percent of those 65 and over backed

the idea as well.

“At a time when political participation is quite low,

particularly among the young, it is difficult to argue that we

should not push for a political event supported by 77 percent

of the population,” said Brent McGoldrick, director of the

survey for neglection2000.com

Students also recognize the truth behind the statement that

younger voters do not vote.

“(Young voters) feel their opinions don’t matter,” said Amanda

Zuber, a senior speech communications major. “They don’t care

about things that aren’t immediately going to affect them .

They don’t like to do things that aren’t fun, that they’re not

going to get instant gratification for.”

An informal poll of student-aged voters on Eastern’s campus

showed young voters believe they don’t know enough about the

candidates to cast an informed vote.

“I didn’t think I knew anything about the candidates,” said

Michelle Gunness, a sophomore mathematics major. Gunness said

that closer to Election Day she wished she had registered

because she learned more about the candidates, but it was too

late to register.

Part of the fear of being unable to cast an educated vote could

come from the way elections are sold to younger voters.

“Young people don’t vote . there’s no reason to target them,”

said Steve Huber, a senior business management major. “The

burnt out, stupid MTV generation doesn’t see politicians .

focusing (on them).”

Huber said he has voted since he was 18, but many young adults

don’t care about the elections.

“I feel as an American, it’s one of our distinguished rights

(to vote),” Huber said. “A lot of (young voters) don’t give a

damn . don’t care.”

Although some students will get interested in a national

election, even fewer will vote in state and local elections.

“At the local level, they don’t get as involved,” Coffrin said.

Sarah Beaver, a sophomore undecided major, agreed with Coffrin

that local elections don’t make as much of an impact on younger

voters. Beaver said she registered to vote when she was in high

school but never voted until this election.

“I don’t even remember hearing about (local) elections in high

school,” she said. “To me, it wasn’t that important I guess.”

Diane Feltz at the Illinois State Board of Elections said 7.1

million people in Illinois were registered to vote this

election season, but she could not separate the number of

voters in the 18 to 24-year-old age bracket.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Web site, 1.1 million

people fit into the 18 to 24-year-old age group as eligible to

vote in the 1996 elections. Of that number, only 51.2 percent

were registered, and only 37.3 percent actually voted. In the

same age group in the same year, 49.1 percent of eligible males

were registered, with 33.9 percent actually voting and 53.7

percent of women were registered, with 41.2 percent voting.

The numbers have dropped in four years. The site said as of

July 2000 only 39.2 percent of eligible 18 to 24-year-old

voters were registered and 16.6 percent

went to the polls.

Wandling said only one other group, the extremely elderly, vote

in lower numbers than the 18 to 24-year-old age group.

“Politicians are obviously going to speak to people who are

going to vote,” he said.