Politicians hardly ever talk about issues that matter to people our age. So many campaign ads are about issues like prescription drugs and Social Security. But there are a lot of important things going on right now that affect our lives - getting a good job, paying for college, protecting the environment, deciding what happens with the war in Iraq. Not all of us have the same opinion on these issues, but right now politicians aren't listening to our opinions at all. And why should they? The fact is that less than half of 18-to-24-year olds vote, compared to 70 percent of older people. Our New Voters Project is working to make politicians pay attention. The best way to do that is to turn out and vote - that's the only thing they listen to, and we know that if we turn out in a big way, we could end the cycle of neglect that exists between politicians and young people.

In fall 2006, OSPIRG and the student PIRGs registered 75,000 students to vote, and leading up to Election Day we made 94,000 personalized Get Out the Vote reminders either over the phone or face-to-face.  Nationally, the increase in youth voter turnout was four times the rate of the general population’s increase (4% for youth, 1% overall).