News-Record.com

Sunday's No. 2 editorial.

From the national to the local level, 2008 looks like it will be the year of the young voter. Whether it's the Iraq war or the Obama factor, people younger than 30 are registering to vote in record numbers.

In North Carolina, the youngest age group, those 18 to 24, has especially seen an increase in registration -- with "unaffiliated"gaining a 200 percent increase from 2004 in that category. The two parties aren't performing shabbily either, with registration for Democrats up 176 percent in that age group and for Republicans up 126 percent.

Nationally, it's the Democrats that have mostly benefited from the increase in young voters, with some 2.3 million people under 30 already having taken part in their contests.

In the presidential race, young voters have drawn attention to some issues that often get less play, such as the rising costs of higher education. Barack Obama is supporting a tax credit to shave $4,000 off the cost of college for most people, and Hillary Clinton also has pledged to work to make college more affordable.

While the presidential election is the drawing card for younger voters, we hope their interest extends to races farther down the ballot. State and local races are just as important as those on the federal level. And, with fewer voters involved in local elections, an individual's vote is more likely to determine a race's outcome. But forget about running in them: The deadline for filing was Friday.