University students and young people alike defied expectations by turning out in high numbers to vote in the primaries.
New Jersey Public Interest Research Group Student Chapters' members called on the media and special guests to deliver speeches on the stairs of Brower Commons on the College Avenue campus yesterday afternoon to discuss the surge in youth voter turnout.
NJPIRG member Mohit Bhake, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student, stood atop the stairs and addressed the listeners.
"A lot of young people say 'Why should I vote for these politicians, they only care about the older voters.' If we get out and vote, we can show that we have a voice," Bhake said. "We wanted to show people that during the past election on Super Tuesday, we actually had an increase of youth voters. We want to continue the momentum."
Michael Shafer, a professor of political science, said he has never seen anything like this in terms of the number of youth voters.
"I have been at Rutgers for 24 years," Shafer said. "I have seen six presidential campaigns come and go, and not once in those six campaigns have the 18 to 24-year-olds in America gotten up off their collective butts and voted. There are 28 million 18 to 24-year-olds who can turn this election around."
New Brunswick Mayor James C. Cahill also appeared at the event and said he had already expected a high youth voter turnout before the election took place.
In New Brunswick, Sen. Barack Obama won 58.7 percent of the vote despite the majority of Middlesex County voting for Sen. Hillary Clinton with 57 percent of the total 102,430 Democratic and 30,155 Republican votes cast.
"The numbers are always interesting when they come out," Cahill said. "I think that the candidates from both political parties have really engaged the public in a discussion on what's important to us on a day to day basis."
NJPIRG member Luis Zeno, a Livingston College sophomore, handed out literature on the candidates' issues.
"The politicians pretty much leave us in the dust and ignore our issues," Zeno said. "Our main concern is getting the information on the candidates out there so people can make an informed decision."
Cahill addressed issues of concern to young and old voters alike and said the economy, War in Iraq, job market and affordability of housing are things that impact everyone.
"I think that's why we are seeing young people [engaging] in the process," Cahill said. "If I was a young person, I would care. [Theses issues are the] kind of things that I cared about when I was younger, and they are the kind of things that anybody should care about, whether or not you believe this country is in a war that it ought to be in, whether or not the economy is going to be such that you're going to have a job, whether or not you are going to be able to afford buying a home and raising a family."
Cahill said these are the issues confronting young people today.
"Everybody tells kids to get engaged, get involved, make a difference," said Matt Matsuda, a professor of history. "A lot of the people at NJPIRG and all of the other voter's projects are doing that with organization. They are holding rallies, inviting speakers, they are really working very hard, and I think it's tremendously admirable."
