Montage The
VOTES
ILLUSTRATIONS BY: JACOB HIGHT
St. Louis Community College–Meramec
Oct. 28, 2010 Vol. 46 Issue 5
inds of e polls. th See what’s on the m to o g y e th re fo e b
Meramec students
s c i t i l o P l a n o i t a v i t Mo a i d e M e and th
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Pakistan Relief Campus clubs donate for relief
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Proposition B When an issue becomes political football
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History of Horror
A Reference
Exploring how the genre and culture came to be
Explore the minds behind Meramec’s young voters
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Skating to 5-0 ILLUSTRATION BY: JOE DOUGLAS AND KAIT THOMAS
Everyone.
MORE media at meramecmontage.com
Tim Doty - Copy Editor -
In the 2008 Presidential election, the number of voters ages 18 to 24 increased the most compared to other age demographics. The number increased to approximately 49 percent, according to http:// census.gov. Younger voters turned to the polls in higher numbers during that election year, according to John Messmer, Ph.D., professor of political science at STLCC-Meramec. “2008 was significant for all age groups. There was a significant increase in young voters,” Messmer said. With the 2010 Congressional elections occurring on Nov. 2,
politicians will be looking for votes to win their seats. If politicians want to secure the younger demographic, they should focus on issues that are more important to the youth, according to Messmer. “If politicians wanted more youth votes, they need to talk about issues young voters care about,” Messmer said. If issues are more pertained to the issues of younger people, more youth may vote, according to Meramec student Niki Zehnle. “People will vote if they feel the issues are important to them. Even though we are younger, we still have
opinions. Everyone that votes is going to have their own views,” Zehnle said. However, younger voters seem to be less informed on some issues and are swing voters, according to Messmer. “Young voters don’t respect the fact that politicians are out to manipulate them. They tend to be less informed because they’re young and not experienced,” Messmer said. According to Messmer, politicians have figured out two main things to win elections. “Number one is appeal to the base. Number two is to win over swing voters. Swing voters, without exception,
are the least intelligent, least informed, and most easily manipulated part of the population,” Messmer said. Some younger voters may not vote at all because one issue may not be as important to them as another. These are trends that can be seen at the polls, according to Messmer. “I’ve noticed younger voters are much more liberal on social issues. More young voters may vote if social issues were on the front burner. Now it’s all economy all the time. What’s discouraging is
“Students see voting as right, not responsibility” See page 2
The Magic roller hockey team starts season undefeated
Montage Reader Poll How do you feel about the health care provisions and how they will affect young Americans?
C
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A. Finally, something good from the government. B.Why not something for older Americans? C. I need cheaper car insurance, not different health insurance.
Nov. 18 Poll Question
Will you vote in the Nov. 2 elections? To vote, visit: www.meramecmontage.com