Apathetic youth in the 2010 Maine state elections

ORONO, ME- Year after year, youth voter apathy is a growing concern for government, politicians, and active citizens alike. As the Maine gubernatorial race is close, LePage ahead of Sen. Mitchell by less than 5 percentage points, youth participation could become critical in this year's election results. Sen. Mitchell believes that “whoever wins this race will win by only a handful of votes” and the participation of each young voter is essential in electing the best candidate for Maine.

According to the 2009 American Community Survey, citizens between the ages of 18 and 29 comprise 15 percent of Maine’s population. In the last gubernatorial election of 2006, the Youth Democrats of America determined that 21 percent of this age group voted. If young voter participation does not increase from the 2006 election, 14.5 percent, or over 152 thousand, of the state’s population who are given a chance to speak will remain unheard, and possibly unrepresented in the Maine state government for the next four years.

An important question to address is why should young voters care to be informed, and help decide the fate of Maine politics? The answer is simple. Politics dictate our lives. Who we vote for; whether it's the president of the United States, or a district representative; determines who can have health insurance, how much money is given to our public schools, how much college students pay for tuition, who can get married, what kinds of jobs are created, as well as many other issues.

Senator Mitchell plans on addressing several issues that will affect young adults across the state if elected governor.

Dan Demeritt, press secretary for the LePage campaign, explains an initiative of the candidate about higher education.

Each candidate has issues on their platform that will affect a wide variety of citizens, and young voters must become more involved to ensure the election of a governor who will benefit our state's future.

To find out more about each candidates platform visit the websites of Sen. Mitchell, Mayor LePage, Cutler, Moody, and Scott.

To learn about the gubernatorial political forum, view Emma Thieme's story, and to learn about how social networking has affected the gubernatorial race, view Bryan Roche's story.