Report: Not enough young people registering to vote

A new report says that one-fourth of North Carolina's young people, ages 18 to 25, are not registered to vote, despite record registrations.

The Young Voters Index found that 200,000 young citizens still haven't registered, even though some 90,000 new registrations were recorded since January. In all, 23 percent of young adults have not registered, compared to less than 20 percent of adults over the age of 25.

"Young people are participating more than they did four years ago, but they still have tremendous potential to do so much more," said Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy North Carolina.

In May, 134,000 young people cast ballots during the primaries, quadruple the number of young people who voted during the 2004 primaries. But the rate of participation was the lowest of any age group. Only 21 percent of registered youth voted in May, compared with 37 percent of all registered voters.

Hall suggested that high schools and colleges make a special effort to educate people about their voting rights. For example, 17-year-olds may register now if their 18th birthday falls before Nov. 4.

Duke, East Carolina, NC Central, N.C. State and UNC-Chapel Hill are among the universities with early voting sites where students can register and vote on the same day.