It's tough to get out the vote during a midterm election.
In the 2002 midterm, Arizona's 11 percent turnout among people 18 to 24 years old was the nation's lowest.
But state legislative races critical to students this year are pushing student leaders to get more young adults to register.
"These are the elections that affect higher education the most. We're really pushing that," said Erin Hertzog, president of the Associated Students of the University of Arizona.
UA students have joined the Arizona Student Vote Coalition in trying to register more than 10,000 young adults by Monday, the deadline to register for the Nov. 7 general election.
Members of the coalition, which includes Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University student governments, the Arizona Students Association and the Arizona Public Interest Research Group, tend to be more in tune with political issues.
They say rising tuition and textbook costs, school funding and work force pay are among the hot issues young voters should care about.
But student leaders at UA have registered only about 1,400 of their 4,000-student share.
Hertzog said she and her staff remain hopeful, especially because they are hosting a Voter Block Party at Main Gate Square, next to campus, on Friday night.
"Most of our registrations will probably come from the party," said Hertzog, a UA journalism senior.
The event caps a monthslong effort to register UA students and young adults. Student leaders have set up booths on the UA Mall and visited dozens of classes, clubs and organizations.
"It seems students on campus care about a lot of things: health care, minimum wage, getting a job after graduation, whether they will be able to buy a house or pay off their student loans," said Serena Unrein, acting executive director of ASA, which is also a statewide lobbying group.
"Contrary to popular belief, they are the least apathetic people around," Unrein said.
But they don't necessarily turn up at the polls, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement reports.
After 18-year-olds gained the right to vote in 1972 - a presidential election year during the Vietnam War - 52 percent of the nation's adults age 18 to 24 voted, the Maryland-based center found.
And while the national young adult turnout grew during the 2004 presidential election, it was still about 5 percentage points lower than in the 1972 presidential election.
The lowest turnout for the 18-24 group during a presidential election came in 1996, when 35.6 percent turned out to vote.
The number is even lower for midterm election years, and it has dropped steadily since 1974. That year, 25.4 percent of voters age 18 to 24 turned up at the polls compared with 19.4 percent percent in 2002.
The center also reported a 7-percentage-point dip in turnout among voters ages 18-24 in Arizona between 1978 and 2002. The slide was steeper than the national average.
Nationally, that age group has the lowest turnout of any age group.
Adults older than 35 have a voter turnout of about 45 percent or higher, the U.S. Census Bureau found.
The bureau also determined that homeowners and those with more education, better jobs and higher pay - people who are likely to be older - were more likely to vote.
But many are hopeful that this year will mean a higher voter turnout among young adults.
"They might be participating in their first election and just like any movement, you want to get somebody early on," said Garrick Taylor, spokesman for the Arizona Republican Party. "They're the voters of tomorrow."
