By Derrick DePledge
and Sergio Bustos
Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON - Most young people believe voting is a choice, not a duty, and are much less likely than people over 30 to vote in Tuesday's midterm elections.

A poll sponsored by Gannett News Service also found that young people have slightly more faith than older people in government and were more likely to have considered a career in public service after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

But nearly half of young people interviewed said their generation has less respect for their country than previous generations.

Marcos Martillo, a 22-year-old graphic design student in New York, feels no responsibility to take part in politics and is not sure he will vote.

"We are simply choosing between a Democrat or a Republican in most cases," he said. "That's hardly a choice."

That difference in attitude could be reflected in voter turnout in Tuesday's elections, which will determine the political balance in Congress as well as three dozen governor's offices. Nearly 38 percent of young people said they are "very likely" to vote next week, compared to 73 percent of people over 30.

Earlier research has shown that young people have a sense of civic duty - and demonstrate it by volunteering for humanitarian causes - but see voting as an option rather than a responsibility. Youth voter turnout peaked in 1972, the first election after the voting age was lowered to 18, but the youthful activism of the Vietnam War era has not materialized since then as a force in national politics.

The military draft was an issue for the young people who first demanded the right to vote, but it is not a concern for people 18 to 30, who came of age during one of the most prosperous and peaceful times in American history.

Jessica Webb, a 23-year-old Eden Park resident, has never registered to vote because she has never found an interest in things political.

"It's easier not to vote than to vote," Ms. Webb said. "I'm not a politically-orientated person to begin with, so I feel like if I went to the polls it would to vote for whoever's commercial I saw the most."

Talk radio has led Joe Reinhold, 23, down the voting path. The Mount Washington man said he never voted until the radio made him more aware of the issues. Still, voting is optional for Mr. Reinhold.

A matter of time

"A lot of it just comes down to time," Mr. Reinhold said. "If I don't have the time, I won't go out of my way to do it."

Rashanda Bredell, 20, does not see voting as an obligation. She still plans to vote, though, even if she is not enthusiastic about politics.

"I want to see if my vote matters," said Ms. Bredell, who lives on her own in Philadelphia and is saving money to study theater arts.

"I think everyone needs to vote, but I can understand why so many young people get turned off," she said. "There's so much scandal and corruption in politics. It seems the bad things politicians do stand out more than the good things they do."

Voting a choice

Nearly 60 percent of young people interviewed described voting as a choice, while 39 percent said it is a constitutional duty. By contrast, 36 percent of older people described voting as a choice and 62 percent said it is a constitutional duty.

"This generation always grew up with the right to vote," said Elliot Savitzky, senior vice president at Opinion Research Corp., a Princeton, N.J., firm that conducted the poll for GNS. "They might not always appreciate it as much."

The poll, taken Oct. 16-22, covered a national sample of 804 adults and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. An additional sample of 400 people between 18 and 30 were interviewed, with a margin of error of 5.5 percentage points.

Dan Levitan, 19, of Hoboken, N.J., is cynical about politics but believes voting is the only way to formally register his opinion.

"It's a privilege," he said. "I do feel it's my duty to vote."

Although young people and older people expressed a similarly high degree of concern about the economy and the war on terrorism, young people are more likely to rank education as a top priority.

Mr. Martillo, the New York graphic design student, lives at his parents' home to save money while he studies. He worries his education might go to waste if the economy does not improve. He also is concerned that possible U.S. military action in Iraq will do more harm to the economy.

"Schools keep getting more and more expensive," he said. "It's a struggle for most people my age to find a decent job."

Peers, parents influences

Like older people, most young people get their information about politics from television news or newspapers, but young people are more likely to get information over the Internet. Young people also are much more likely to be influenced to vote by their peers or their parents, according to the GNS poll.

While young people may feel disengaged from voting, most are not pessimistic about government and local schools and are slightly more likely than older people to say they have faith in those institutions, the poll found.

Young people also are more likely to have thought about working in public service - as a teacher, police officer, or firefighter - in the months after Sept. 11. Asked whether the U.S. should reinstitute the draft, 70 percent of young people and 62 percent of older people said no.

Theresa Hubbard, 75, who is retired and lives in Mount Morris, Mich., said she is optimistic about the future, in part because she has renewed faith in young people. She said she thinks they are more serious and realistic about life than their baby boomer parents.

Ms. Hubbard blames low turnout among youth voters on the absence of civic education in schools.

"They don't understand it is their priority and their duty and their right. They don't understand the Constitution and the Bill of Rights," she said.

Voting vs. learning

Bob Hansan, president of Capitol Advantage, an Internet and media services company in McLean, Va., has recruited students for volunteer work and believes too much emphasis is placed on voting. Young people will get more interested in politics, he said, when they have active roles within their communities and a deeper understanding of issues.

"I think we spend too much money and time encouraging people to register to vote as opposed to encouraging them to learn about the issues," Mr. Hansan said.

Lucille Karas, 27, a Boston hairdresser, is angry and frustrated about the direction of the country.

She wants President Bush and Congress to protect - not privatize - Social Security and create a free health insurance program that covers everyone. She believes immigrants are taking jobs away from other residents and worries about another terrorist attack.

"My parents said it's a civic duty to vote," she said. "I think a lot of people just don't care, or think their vote doesn't really count.

"I don't care about who's a Republican or who's a Democrat," she said. "I want the politician who's going to get the job done."

Although not directly comparable to the the GNS poll findings, data from the 2000 Census show that the East North Central states, which include Ohio and Indiana, led the nation with the highest percentage of people age 18 to 24 registered to vote and the highest percentage of people in that age group who actually voted.

Only 45.4 percent of people 18 to 24 nationwide were registered in 2000, with 32.3 percent of the people in that group (not those in the group that were registered) voted.

In the East North Central region, the percentage of those 18 to 24 registered was 50.4, with 36.9 percent of those actually voting. Blacks in that age group living in the region were slightly more likely to register and vote than whites.

People in the 18-to-24 age group living in the East South Central states, including Kentucky, also registered and voted in percentages slightly higher than the national average (45.8 and 32.4 percent, respectively).

But overall, registration and voter participation among the 18-to-24 age group was poor, the 2000 Census showed.

Nationwide, 63.9 percent of all people 18 and older were registered to vote; 54.7 percent of these people actually voted.

Enquirer reporter Dan Klepal contributed to this report.