According to the Center For Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) the youth really did rock the vote; if they had stayed home Mitt Romney would have won key battleground states.
The youth research organization said that voter turnout for the 2012 Presidential elections was at least 49%, or between 22-33 million Americans under the age of 30.
The information was gathered according to national exit polls, demographic data and current counts of votes cast.
CIRCLE said that Romney would have won in the key battleground states like Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, if he had gotten half the youth vote, or if young people had stayed home all together.
Had Romney snatched up those states, the switch in his favor of those 80 electoral votes would have also changed the presidency (More on that analysis here.)
Young people represented 19% of the voters in yesterday’s election, with President Obama winning the majority of those votes over Governor Romney by 60% to 37%, according to the early released NEP.
“Confounding almost all predictions, the youth vote held up in 2012 and yet again was the deciding factor in determining which candidate was elected President of the United States,” said CIRCLE director Peter Levine, in a release.
“Youth turnout of around 50% is the ‘new normal’ for presidential elections.”
In the United States, 46 million people fall between ages 18 and 29, establishing their vote and turnout as an essential political bloc.
“Right now, they form a key part of the Democrats’ national coalition,” said Levine. “Republicans must find a way to compete for their votes.”
Preliminary numbers indicate that voter turnout in Virginia closely rivaled the historic turnout of 2008, and that third-party candidates received more votes in this election.
Virginia voter support for third-party candidates increased in the 2012 election, from 2008, but remains low compared to 1992, 1996, and 2000. Read more on that here: http://wtvr.com/2012/11/07/2012-voter-turnout-rivals-2008-third-party-support-increases/
