/ Modified sep 23, 2016 6:02 p.m.

Campaigns, Candidates Are Chasing the Youth Vote

People born in - wait for it - 1998 are now eligible to vote; but will they?

Every office seeker wants the youth vote, but how to get it is the biggest issue.

President Barack Obama cracked the code in 2008 and again to an extent in 2012, but other than those historic elections, few campaigns or candidates have attracted big turnouts of voters under 35 years old.

Arizona Week Friday takes a look at the youth vote and what candidates are doing to get young people out, in addition to voter registration drives underway simply to get them signed up to cast ballots.

How to best reach them?

Many campaigns turn to social media - Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Pinterest and other Internet vehicles.

"People tend to actually get most of their news these days through social media, instead of directly from the news website or newspapers or other forms of media," said Sudha Ram, a professor of management information systems at the University of Arizona. "There's almost a 60 percent rise in the amount of news that's being heard through social media."

On the program:

  • Sebastian Laguna, UA College Republicans.

  • Allison Childress, UA Young Democrats.

  • Sudha Ram, UA professor of management information systems.

  • Elliott Bustamante, recent high school graduate working to register students to vote.

  • Evan Wyloge, reporter for the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.

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