Voting drives, rallies and information sessions are only a few ways voting has been encouraged among the nation's youth - but what about a bill to reinstate the draft?
House Bill 163, which sits dormant in the U.S. Congress, has the potential to send many young men and women to war. The mandatory draft bill, written by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., was proposed in January 2003 and states all youths ages 18 to 26 would be eligible for conscription, despite school enrollment. But Rangel, who could not be reached for comment Monday, said on his Web site he does not think such a draft would actually happen and is pushing to get young people to the polls.
"[Rangel] meant the act to show young people that a draft could happen, and legislation is being passed under their noses, and they don't even know what's going on," said Don Archer, an engineering senior.
Voter turnout in the 18-to-26 age category has been on the decline since Congress passed the 26th Amendment in 1972, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, according to the Federal Election Committee Web site. During the 1992 elections, at the tail end of the Gulf War, a temporary increase occurred with 51 percent of the 18-to-26 age group voting, according to the site.
Eric Kellermann, an electrical engineering freshman, said students who plan on voting are doing so for their own personal reasons, and the issue of a draft is not a well-known one.
"I didn't even know about the draft, but it would make me want to vote if I wasn't already going to," said Kellerman. "It affects me. It's a major issue."
The likelihood of the draft being reinstated is not strong, said UT government professor Bruce Buchanan.
"Senator Kerry has promised there will be no draft if he is elected, and President Bush said there is no such plan for a draft, and there's no support that I know of in Congress," Buchanan said. "I think that right at the moment, at least, there's no reason to get people excited about a draft."
The anti-war sentiment is too strong, said Buchanan, and support for the draft is too weak.
The bill, proposed as the Universal National Service Act, states men, as well as women, can be conscripted into the military or civil service for a term of two years, which could be extended if deemed necessary. Those physically ineligible for service or who object for religious reasons would still be drafted as well. In Vietnam, one could use school enrollment as a shelter, but under HB 163, students would be drafted at the end of the semester in which they are selected for service.
"I think having to interrupt my school schedule to fight someone's war that I don't believe in is a ridiculous idea," Archer said.
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