Youth vote rate up in key states

The Associated Press

Voter registration drives aimed at young people are turning 18- to 24-year-olds into an important variable in the presidential election, especially in decisive battleground states such as Michigan -- where nearly 100,000 young people have registered in recent months -- and Wisconsin, where the numbers are even higher.

They are the nation's newest swing voters, with polls showing their support for the major candidates has vacillated in recent months. A Harvard University poll found that, in a five-month period, 19 percent of young potential voters changed their minds about whom they'd support.

And the political parties are using volunteers and paid canvassers to register young voters and get them to the polls.

Officials in several other battleground states -- New Mexico, Ohio and Florida among them -- see clear signs that more young people are interested in this election. Some election experts believe that polls of "likely voters" often miss young people.

Officials at Rock the Vote -- a nationwide campaign aimed at young people -- say they expect registration numbers to surge as deadlines in many states approach.