But in Berkeley, home to the UC Campus and twice the national percentage of 20 to 24 year olds, the presence of youthful first-time voters aged 18-24, was still strong.

For 19-year-old Daniel Trujillo, his first trip to the polls seemed routine.

In 2000, young people had the lowest turnout of any age group. Only 8 percent of voters were between the ages of 18 and 24. Photo by Jigar Mehta.

“It’s not like anything exciting,” said Trujillo, a chemistry student at Berkeley. “You just do your thing.”

Because he had researched the local and state initiatives before arriving at his polling place at St. John’s Church in Berkeley, he said, the process went by quickly for him. Voting, he said, is something everyone should do.

Leading up to the election, young voters were split between Democrats and Republicans. But today’s exit polls showed that the younger voters who did turn out strongly supported Kerry.

Rock the Vote, a national organization dedicated to increasing voter registration and turnout among young people, reported this year it registered more than 1.4 million voters.

In California alone, 200,000 people registered through Rock the Vote’s website and on-the-ground registration drives, said the organization’s communications director, Jay Strell.

A groundswell of new organizations, with names like Punk Voter, the League of Pissed Off Voters, and Voter Virgin, have targeted younger voters this year and made it easier for them to register online and in dance clubs and on college campuses.

On Tuesday afternoon, first-time voter April Tong said she was motivated to vote because political participation is so encouraged on the UC Berkeley campus. Tong, 19, filled out her ballot in Berkeley while her friend waited for her, but admitted that the process was intimidating.

ASUC has volunteered 3 golf carts from 9 to 3 pm, in an effort to help UC Berkeley students get to various parts of campus quickly and make it to the voting polls on time. Megan Famulener, 20 of Berkeley has volunteered some time to be a driver; next to her is Alex Schwartztein, a junior at UC Berkeley, encouraging people to vote. Photo by Emilia Pablo.

“It was more overwhelming than I thought,” she said after she sealed her ballot. Tong said she hadn’t expected to see all of the initiatives she found on the flip side of the form.

Although Kerry is likely to receive more votes in Berkeley, and the state of California, 18-year-old Amaris White said her vote is important to “keep Bush’s percentage as high as possible so that people know there are conservatives in California.”

Wearing a black “fcuk Kerry” shirt and standing at the Berkeley College Republicans table on Sproul Plaza Monday, White, a first-time voter from Concord, said national security and the economy are reasons she wants to elect President Bush to a second term.

Her vote today will not only be a first for her, but for her family. Her parents are not US citizens, she said.

Gloria Hernandez, 18, said she plans to cast her first vote in a presidential election for Kerry. The sociology major, wearing a Cesar Chavez shirt, said voting allows her to voice her opinion.

“Every vote counts, and I don’t think mine should be an exception,” she said.