I did a little more digging. That 17% figure that keeps being thrown about…it’s not quite right.
17% of the voters were aged 18-29. Not that 17% of registered voters aged 18-29 showed up at the polls.
This is from the Washington Post online:
_And the number of voters younger than 30 grew to at least 20.9 million. The nonpartisan voter advocacy group Rock the Vote said the surge in young voters reversed a decline that had lasted more than three decades except for a spike in 1992.
…
Young voters, despite their increased numbers, made up 17 percent of 2004’s total vote, unchanged from 2000._