INDIANAPOLIS — Michael Shepard headed to his campus food court this week looking for students hungry for political action. He came away unsatisfied.
Shepard's efforts to register new voters in a demographic group that will be crucial to Indiana’s primary elections on May 3 netted 10 takers.
“It was kinda scary,” said the political science major at Indiana State University. “I’m worried the day is going to come, and they’re going to let it roll by.”
Falling so late in the political season, Indiana's presidential primaries usually have a muted effect on selecting a national party's nominee.
Not so this year, at least on the Democratic side.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is narrowing the lead that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has built in delegates to the party's nominating convention. Both candidates are opening campaign offices throughout Indiana this week, with plans to court young voters.
It’s a tough crowd. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, college-age voters -- those ages 18 through 24 -- turn out at lower rates than all other age groups.
It's been true in every presidential election since 1962.
Even in 2008, when President Barack Obama's candidacy energized young voters, 49 percent of college-age voters cast ballots that November. Four years earlier, it was 47 percent.
Still, campus voters tend to be more engaged.
In the presidential race four years ago, young voters with some college experience were almost twice as likely to vote as those who had not attended college, according to a report by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University.
Signing up students to vote is a key first step, said Indiana State University political scientist Carly Schmitt. She oversees the university's American Democracy Project, part of a national program that aims to get more undergraduates civically involved.
Over the past few weeks, working with student groups, the project registered 500 new voters on campus.
“That’s a lot for a primary election,” Schmitt said.
Similar registration drives are happening on campuses across the state. All focus on getting out the word – especially to students from out-of-state -- about the state's deadline to register to vote.
Most states have such deadlines, anywhere from 8 to 30 days before an election.
Eleven states offer same-day registration.
“There are still a lot of young voters who don’t understand the process,” Schmitt said. “The challenge is educating them.”
Voting isn’t easy for a college student in Indiana, she said. The May 3 primaries fall during final exams week on most campuses.
At ISU, there’s no place to vote on campus; the closest polling place is a 15-minute walk away.
And students, like other voters here, are required to have state-issued photo ID.
“It’s not an easy system to navigate," Schmitt said.
Election officials would disagree. Pushed by Secretary of State Connie Lawson, the state now offers online voter registration, allowing anyone with a driver’s license or official state ID to register electronically.
As of Thursday, 25,593 new voters have signed up since Jan. 1, with 4 in 5 registering online.
The state has launched an app allowing voters to request an absentee ballot, designed in part for college students from Indiana who want to vote in their home districts.
This weekend will see a flurry of voter registration efforts on the state's campuses. Many will be lead by Sanders and Clinton supporters - though not all.
Brian Gamache, head of the Indiana Federation of College Republicans and president of its Indiana University chapter, said young Republicans will be working, too.
But he said much of their efforts will focus on convincing students who identify as Republican to register to vote so that they can cast ballots against their party’s front-runner, Donald Trump.
“I personally will never support Donald Trump as the nominee,” said Gamache. The billionaire has alienated young voters with divisive remarks about immigration and women, he added.
Gamache said his goal is a high turnout of young voters on primary day.
“Our votes are more necessary than ever before,” he said.