Rock the Vote and CIRCLE Release New Report on Youth Vote Trends

Book, conference, and personal stuff are piling up this week, so I won't have time to get to this until late tonight (or possibly the weekend), but Rock the Vote and CIRCLE have released a new, very comprehensive report on trends in the youth vote. Most impressive, the report looks to get down into some serious demographic nitty-gritty (see bold below). Some highlights from their press release:

The report, Young Voter Registration and Turnout Trends, takes an in-depth look at historical trends in youth voter turnout, the demographics of young voters, and the politics of the youth vote. The report offers research and data on young voters broken down by state, gender, ethnic group, religious affiliation and other key demographics for the 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006 elections. The complete report can be found at www.civicyouth.org or www.rockthevote.com/research.

Facts about youth electoral participation:

• Young voter turnout rose in the last two election cycles;
• In the 2004 presidential election, voter turnout increased for all groups of young people;
• Young voters are more ethnically and racially diverse today than 30 years ago, and are more diverse than their adult counterparts;
• Economy/Jobs and the Iraq War are the top two issues for young voters; and
• An estimated 44 million 18-29 year olds will be eligible to vote in 2008, constituting 21 percent of the eligible voting population.