Get Your Vote Out Of New Hampshire

10:56

February 07, 2011

Then-Sen. Barack Obama campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination in Manchester, N.H. in January 2008. (Tony the Misfit/Flickr)

Then-candidate Barack Obama courted young voters all over the country during his primary and presidential campaigns.

Even though Obama lost the all-important New Hampshire primary to Hilary Clinton, the importance of the youth vote was clear in 2008. Turn-out among the under-30s was 43 percent, up from 28 percent in 2000.

In a state like New Hampshire, where the first-in-the-nation primary sets the tone for presidential elections, isn't that what everybody wants? Young, civically engaged students who actually vote?

Maybe not. A bill pending in the New Hampshire state legislature proposes forcing college and graduate students to vote in the states they call home, not New Hampshire where they're students. Exceptions would be made for students who can show they plan to stay in the Granite state after graduation.

Guests:

Rep. Gregory Sorg, Republican representative to the New Hampshire legislature
Jeremy Kaufmann, president, New Hampshire College Democrats; junior at Dartmouth College

This segment aired on February 7, 2011.