Young people lead the voter increase at the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, breaking voter turnout records and launching Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill., to a first-place finish. But behind the explosion of 22- to 29-year old voters, specifically in the Democratic caucuses, lay some obstacles for college voters.
Overall, around 239,000 people participated in last Thursday's Democratic caucuses, while 116,000 voted in the Republican caucuses. The totals of both show increases from previous years; the Republican total moved up from less than 90,000 in 2000, the party's last contested primary season, while the Democratic numbers doubled from 124,000 in 2004.
The number of youth voters participating in Iowa's Democratic caucuses tripled from 2004, making up 22 percent of total Democratic voters, an amount relatively equal to their population share. Iowa youth came out in overwhelming support of Obama, who gained 57 percent of their vote. On the Republican side, only 11 percent of voters were under 30 years of age. Former Governor Mike Huckabee R-Ark. earned 40 percent of the Republican youth vote. Congressman Ron Paul, R-Tx., trailed far behind, earning slightly over 21 percent of the youth vote, though his overall support in the state remained around 10 percent.
The Jan. 3 date for the caucuses created barriers for some youth voters in the state, as voting occurred before universities in Iowa had resumed classes following the winter break. Despite this dilemma, many students who are not permanent residents of Iowa made special arrangements in order to vote in the state's famed caucuses.
Earlier in the election cycle, controversy arose surrounding the role of non-Iowan students enrolled at Iowa colleges who wanted to vote in the caucus.
Think Progress, a Democratic think tank, reported in December that Senator Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., had argued that the caucus "needs to be all about Iowa and the people who live here, the people who pay taxes here." The Clinton campaign, however, retracted this position well before voting began, Think Progress' article reports.
Alex Schierenbeck, president of the College and Young Democrats of Iowa and a student at Grinnell College, received a special dispensation from his school to house students in the campus athletic facilities during the caucuses. Schierenbeck estimated that more than 150 students used the housing in order to vote, though Grinnell will not reopen until Jan. 19.
Schierenbeck said that their caucus went smoothly and many new voters signed up for the first time.
"Everybody who wanted to participate seemed to be able to," he said.
Several organizations in Iowa worked to mobilize youth voters. Iowa Secretary of State Michael Mauro and the Rock the Vote organization worked together to reach out to student voters, Kat Barr, education director of Rock the Vote, said.
In Iowa, Rock the Vote specifically targeted high-school students, Barr said. Under Iowa state law, 17-year-olds may vote in the caucuses if they will turn 18 before the general election. Aiming to attract these individuals, Rock the Vote ran many outreach programs to newly-eligible voters, including a Facebook caucus event that sent invitations to every 17 and 18 year-old in the state.
Barr says the group will also be active in New Hampshire.
"We're going to New Hampshire to build on the momentum coming in from Iowa," she said.
Schierenbeck predicted that the results of the Iowa caucuses would have an effect the New Hampshire campaigns.
"I think we're going to see all the campaigns focus on young voters," he said.
Dartmouth will be one of the only colleges in New Hampshire open in time for the Jan. 8 primary and has therefore received attention from many of the presidential candidates.
Jennifer Bandy '09, vice president of the Dartmouth College Young Republicans, said that Republican candidates, including former mayor Rudolph Giuliani, R-N.Y., and Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., seem to have garnered the most support among young Republicans.
"John McCain has really courted the Dartmouth vote," Bandy said.
Among the Democratic candidates, Obama's campaign has been the most visible in Hanover, with student volunteers handing out information around the Green.
Bandy emphasized the importance of the New Hampshire primary for students.
"It only comes around once in your Dartmouth college career, so you really want to take advantage of it," she said.
