Young voters proved they have power at the polls when they helped usher President Obama into office, but in Chicago they haven't flexed their voting muscle too much in local elections to pick a mayor or the aldermen who have the authority to do everything from licensing ride-sharing companies to hiking liquor and cigarette taxes.
With roughly a month to go before what's known as the municipal election, it's a perfect time to look back and see how Chicago's youngest voters did in the last city election: Voters ages 18 to 34 accounted for 18.45 percent, or nearly 110,000 votes of the 594,734 total ballots cast in 2011.
Campaigning hard on issues that affect everything from young people's wallets to social issues may get more voters to the polls Feb. 24, when they'll pick Chicago's next mayor, who runs the city much like a CEO, appointing the police superintendent among other officials and taking the lead on issues, such as campaigning to bring the Obama presidential library to Chicago. Voters will also have a chance to elect an alderman who deals with neighborhood complaints such as graffiti, votes on ordinances such as allowing food trucks to cook onboard and supports or blocks developments in the community. Also on the ballot are the offices of city clerk, who is the city's record keeper and handles the sale of city stickers for cars and dog registration, and city treasurer, who manages the city's cash, investments and pension funds.
There's the notion that the presidential election is the most important election but city officials have the ability to change the issues Chicagoans encounter daily or the distribution of resources, said Rudy Garrett, volunteer coordinator of Chicago Votes, a nonpartisan organization founded in 2012 to engage young Chicagoans in the political process.
"When you want your city to get better, you have to vote for people in your city," she said.
That said, a number of Chicagoans of voting age didn't register or vote in the last city election. There were 1.4 million registered voters in 2011 plus an estimated 400,000 Chicagoans ages 18 and older who were eligible to vote but weren't registered or had outdated registration records, according to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Of those 1.4 million registered voters, more than 800,000 did not go to the polls to vote for Mayor Daley's successor.
Why are young adults less inclined go to the polls? The short answer: a number of reasons.
Young adults turn out at the polls at a lower rate than older voters and, as such, politicians may not work hard to reach out and engage them, said Zachary Cook, political science professor at DePaul University. Younger voters may be somewhat less interested in many issues that dominate the municipal elections like property taxes for example, he said. Candidates who have limited financial resources target voters who they perceive will most likely turn out, he said.
The issue then becomes how can young people establish a habit of voting if nobody makes a pitch to them and talks to them about why it is important, he said.
But the cycle can be broken, Cook said. The proof is the increase in youth voter turnout for the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections, which suggests the right candidates running on issues young voters care about and targeting them can boost participation, he said. For example, young voters bought into the idea of change in the White House with the first African American president and at the same time a charismatic Obama brought on young people to help run his campaign and courted young voters on college campuses and cable programs like "The Daily Show." Presidential elections tend to have more resources than local campaigns to reach voters too, he said.
Outside of college campuses, it can be tough for candidates to reach potential young voters who are less likely to watch network TV where political ads air, said Anthony Fowler, assistant professor in the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. Also, young people are mobile and it takes time, energy and effort to get registered to vote or update their voter registration every time they move, he said.
"The challenges are pretty deep. Young people are harder to reach. They're less likely to be registered and less likely to be connected to communities, and when we can reach them, they're less likely to respond," Fowler said.
While the Millennial generation is plugged into social media, they may not be paying attention to politics online despite candidates having a Twitter account or Facebook page. What gets posted online needs to be enticing and applicable to young people, Garrett said.
Social media and politics can play out in different ways.
"Social media makes it easier for informed or motivated youth to seek out more information than ever, but it also makes it easier for tuned-out youth to ignore political news altogether and focus on whatever they have a pre-existing interest in," Cook said.
However, what's most effective in reaching them is personal contact, Fowler said. Face-to-face contact is better than getting an email or letter or phone call, he said. Some mayoral candidates can be spotted shaking hands of commuters at CTA stations or meeting and greeting voters at local bars.
Chicago Votes has hosted voter registration drives and happy hours to get young adults involved in the political process. The organization also has worked with public schools to engage high school students, explain the importance of voting and get them registered to vote.
"The younger you can get somebody to start voting, the more likely they are to continue voting in their lifetime," Garrett said.
lvivanco@redeyechicago.com | @lvivanco