Of all the get-out-the-vote techniques imaginable, it’s probably the simplest. On Election Day 2005, Bates College Democrats drew a chalk line on the pavement from Chase Hall on campus to the polls at the Lewiston Armory. Passers-by to the group’s table outside Chase were asked to just follow the chalk.

The hot issue in that election was Maine’s Equal Rights Amendment, which student Democrats admit easily pushed young voters to the polls. Republican student leaders point to 2004 as their watershed year, as the presidential election saw youth voters stream to voter booths here and across the country.

Now it’s Election 2006, and Mainers face a five-way race for governor and the divisive Taxpayer Bill of Rights, issues less attractive for young voters than those of the last two years. But youth political leaders are mobilizing, hoping to use past inertia to influence this November.

Candidates and lobbyists need to pay attention to the power of youth voters. Maine, according to a study released this month, has the fifth-highest turnout rate of youth voters (ages 18-29) in the country. It’s a gratifying statistic as a whole, and even more so when peeled into individual layers.

Maine youth have increased participation in mid-term elections, while the national trend has spiraled downward. Youth turnout was 31 percent in 2002, an unremarkable number until compared with the 22 percent national average. In 2004, 59 percent of Maine youths voted in the presidential race.

For a voting bloc frequently derided for apathy, these figures make an impressive case for the influence of the youth vote in Maine, as does the enthusiasm of student political leaders.

Jason Buxbaum, president of the Bates College Democrats, said a freshman sign-up yielded about 170 names, with 70 students appearing for the group’s organizational meeting, along with elected Democrats and candidates.

Nate Walton, a Bates junior and chairman of the Maine College Republicans, told The Associated Press a recent drive at the University of Maine brought 100 new members, a one-day record for the organization. He credits growing youth discontent with Maine’s Democratic leadership as the cause.

Regardless of ideology, efforts by young political leaders to push their peers to vote deserve rousing applause; Buxbaum and Walton said their groups attack collegiate campaigns with the vigor of the professionals, going door-to-door and making hand-to-hand contact with undecideds.

“We ran campaigns on campus,” echoed Anya Trundy, president of the Maine College Democrats. The organizations today are gearing campaigns for Democratic Gov. John Baldacci and Republican Sen. Chandler Woodcock’s bids for governor, as well as informing students about TABOR.

And once approached, motivating youth voters was easy. “It was a matter of asking,” said Walton. “Young people are ready to be asked.”

Campaigns in this November’s election would be wise to remember those words over the next six weeks. The youth vote in Maine is proving strong, and discounting its influence could come at a candidate’s peril.