In a mid term election, the goal is to ‘get out the vote.’
When it comes to voting behavior, the older you are, the more likely you are to cast a ballot. In 2012, fewer than half of voters age eighteen to twenty-nine voted. And the turn-out increased with age. Almost three quarters of people 65 years and older made it to the polls.
“And that’s definitely something that we’re trying to battle," says Shane Ringressy, Virginia Tech representative to Virginia 21 a statewide non-partisan advocacy group for 18 to 21 year olds.
"The goal is that since the youth are so engaged on media devices on their phones, their email that if we can reach them just to give them a quick reminder, hey take 10 15 minutes out of your day and go vote we’re hoping to have a higher percentage of students showing up to the polls this time around."
There’s a Virginia 21 chapter at every public college or university in Virginia. This year, it partnered with an organization called Turbo vote, which uses social media to communicate with students about how to register and where to vote. Ringressey says the new approach has doubled the number of students the group was able to register compared with the last election.
