By any measure, America's youngest adult generation -- Generation X-- are the least politically active of any generation. Statistic after statistic tell the story of a generation that turns out to vote less frequently than others; the numbers also show that young adults are voting less than they once had. One would think that after all the struggles that were waged in this nation of ours for equal voting opportunities, every eligible citizen would head out to the polls. This is certainly not the case. United States is a nation built upon the fundamental principle of democracy, or rule by the people. Why then, do we in this country take voting for granted? Why do we not realize that voting is the most direct way that we have in participating in politics? The U. S. continues to be at the bottom of the ranks when it comes to voter turnout of the voting-age population. In fact, only 52.6 percent of the voting age population heads out to the polls. However, the problem does not lie in the low turnout, it is that only two-thirds of the voting-age population is registered to vote. Though it is probably too late to change the minds of the elder and middle-aged citizens about registering to vote, it is still possible to target Generation X and all those who will vote in the future. The fact that these people are not voting is the reason that the voting rate is so low and this country can ill-afford to stand by and hope that young people eventually grow up and start voting. .
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in the 1996 presidential general election Generation X represented 33 percent of the voting age population, but accounted for only 24 percent of voters, making them the only generation to under-represent its voting-age population in the election. In the 1998 midterm election 18-24 year olds represented 39 percent of the voting-age population and accounted for only 28 percent of voters.