On July 22nd 2008, The Century Foundation (TCF) hosted the second installment in its summer 2008 public policy lunch series for New York City interns with a forum, “The Incredible Youth Vote: Will the Youth Vote Have the Strength to Decide the 2008 Presidential Election?” TCF gathered a panel of experts to lead an interactive discussion with nearly 100 young people from the NYC area on the potential political power of the youth vote, and the various legal and social factors that election year after election year keep this demographic of voters from actively engaging in the political process.

Forum speakers included, Tova Wang, Vice President of Research for Common Cause and Democracy Fellow at The Century Foundation; Justin Rockefeller, Co-founder and National Program Director of GenerationEngage, Maya Enista, Chief Executive Officer of Mobilize.org, Mark Hugo Lopez, Associate Director of the Pew Hispanic Center; and Ben Adler, Staff Writer for Politico.

The panel addressed a host of issues that may make it difficult for segments of the youth vote to easily participate in the electoral process. The ability of the political campaigns and voter mobilization groups to target both students and non-students alike in their GOTV efforts along with state election laws that have historically disenfranchised young voters account for  just a few of the factors they discussed, which could affect the impact young voters have on the local and national elections in November.