Young people and college students aren't traditionally a very powerful voting block. But with the intense focus on Ohio this presidential election season, student leaders at Ohio state are trying to mobilize their peers.
The numbers aren't exact, but student leaders think as many as 10-thousand OSU students registered to vote this fall in drives led by campus republicans, democrats and the non-partisan undergraduate student government.
Herb Wiseberg is a professor of political science at Ohio State University. He says students don't have a great record for voter turnout. And even if students do turn out in record numbers, Wiseberg says, much like the state of Ohio as a whole, Ohio state students are divided, so they won't be voting as a block.
The student vote is a bit of an X-factor. Students are generally left out of polling data, because many rely on cell phones and few would be considered likely voters. It's still not clear whether this tight election and the national focus on Ohio will inspire more students to get out and vote.
