Contact: Sujatha Jahagirdar (213) 251-3690 x321, (323) 309-6120 cell

Youth voter turnout surged by 25 percent in New Hampshire, with 53,000 more young people turning to the polls last night than in 2004. The increase in youth turnout represented more than seven times the margin of victory by Democratic winner Clinton. Once again youth were critical in deciding the winners - with McCain winning the youth vote on the Republican ticket and Clinton winning the 25-29 year old age bracket, edging out Obama who won the 18-24 year old vote.

Young volunteers have been engaging all of the Presidential candidates for months, as part of the Student PIRGs’ What’s Your Plan? campaign, showing up to every candidate event that they can get into - barbeques, photo-ops, fundraisers and town hall meetings to ask all of the presidential candidates what their plans are on key youth issues and to get them to pay attention to young people. Students have been organizing events in states across the country, including New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada, California, Colorado, and Iowa.  They’ve also been turning out their peers to the polls and plan to continue their efforts through the primaries and general election. Photo gallery

To date, student volunteers with the Student PIRGs’ What’s Your Plan? campaign have spoken to the candidates, face to face, more than 100 times to ask them what their plans are on key youth issues like global warming, college affordability, health care and financial security. 

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The Student PIRGs are independent state-based student organizations that work to solve public interest problems related to the environment, consumer protection, and government reform.

The Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project is the nation’s largest youth voter mobilization program.  Since 2004, we have registered more than 600,000 young people and made more than 650,000 peer to peer voter turnout contacts to get young people to the polls on Election Day. Due in large part to our efforts, the youth vote increased by 4.3 million votes, or 9% in 2004 and an analysis of our work in 2006 found that in the student dense precincts in which we worked, the youth vote increased on average by 157%.