Young people may not be flocking to the polls this year.
A new poll of 18-to-29 year olds by the Harvard Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government found 23 percent said they would definitely be voting in November--down 11 percentage points from five months ago.
"Among the most likely voters, the poll also finds traditional Republican constituencies showing more enthusiasm than Democratic ones for participating in the upcoming midterms," the institute said.
Forty-four percent of 2012 Mitt Romney voters said they'll definitely be voting, while 35 of 2012 Barack Obama voters saying the same.
The poll had other somber news: It said younger people's "cynicism toward the political process has never been higher," said Harvard Institute of Politics Director Trey Grayson.
The survey polled 3,058 18- to 29- year-old U.S. citizens. Margin of error is 1.8 percentage points, conducted with the Government and Academic Research team of GfK for the IOP between March 22 and April 4.
By David Lightman
McClatchy Washington Bureau