Older voters lead youth turnout indicators

PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Younger U.S. voters lag behind older counterparts on key turnout indicators, including whether they plan to vote this year, results a Gallup Poll indicates.

Democratic Party presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has a sizable lead over Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., 62 percent to 34 percent, among registered voters ages 18-29, Gallup Poll Daily results released Wednesday indicate.

However, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said it found young voters trail older voters on three key predictors of turnout.

Younger voters are significantly less likely than those who are older to report that they are registered to vote, in part because they are more mobile, Gallup said.

Data also indicate younger voters are less likely than those who are older to say they have given quite a lot of thought to the election.

Finally, younger voters are much less likely to self-report that they are likely to vote, Gallup said.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews Oct. 14-20 with 7,063 adults. The margin of error for the total sample is 1 percentage point. For results based on the sample of 604 adults aged 18 to 29, the margin of error is 4 percentage points.