Professor Michael Bitzer (Photo courtesy Catawba College)
If the nation’s young voters show up Nov. 5, they could be game changers in the General Election, according to Michael Bitzer, the Leonard Chair of Political Science and professor of politics and history at Catawba College.
Bitzer, who holds forth regularly on North Carolina politics at the website Old North State Politics , said students often complain that politicians and others aren’t addressing their concerns, which includes such issues as housing affordability, student loan debt and other challenges that 18–22-year-olds face.
The political apathy, Bitzer said, tends to follow them into full adulthood.
“I think what the normal pattern that political science knows is that as you age into your life cycle, you do become more engaged, you do understand the dynamics, you do see the importance of showing up to things like voting,” Bitzer said. “The millennials, however, aren’t necessarily tracking the same dynamic as we’ve seen in previous generations, so those voter turnout rates where those millennials who are now into adulthood, who are now establishing families, now have what we think of as secure jobs and employment, they’re still not showing up necessarily, at least not in this state at the rates that they should be.”