Let's start by giving the voters of the Fairfield and Genola 01 precincts a hearty round of applause. Fairfield had a 70 percent voter turnout on Election Day while at Genola 01, 67 percent of voters cast ballots. Way to go!

Statewide, voter turnout averaged about 33 percent, which means two-thirds of voters didn't show up to the polls, despite the millions spent on swaying voters one way or another on the private school voucher issue.

I don't know what voter turnout was at my polling place, which was four precincts collapsed into one. I was 25th in line. The poll worker told me I was the 246th person to vote by 10 a.m. The voucher referendum was the only issue on the ballot.

It struck me that I was, by far, the youngest person waiting in that line, and I'm 45 years old. Everyone else had white, gray or graying hair. There they were, in droves, making their preferences known. It was no small feat for some of them. Some had difficulty walking or standing for an extended period. Despite the assurances of the election judges that the voting itself would take but a minute once they reached the voting machines, some people decided to come back when the polls were less crowded. I hope they did.

There was a dearth of young people. Perhaps some had voted earlier in the day, on their way to work or school. Or maybe they would cast their votes later in the day.

Unfortunately, an analysis by Deseret Morning News reporters Catherine Smith and Jens Dana confirmed my sad suspicions — a lot of young people don't make it their business to vote. One precinct near Brigham Young University had a paltry 6.8 percent turnout.

Sure, we could offer many platitudes as to why it matters, but these things don't seem to resonate in our instant-gratification culture. People elsewhere on the planet literally risk their lives for the right to vote. Look at what's happening in Pakistan. Here, people exert more effort to vote for "American Idol" than their local boards of education or city council.

Part of the reason is many university students feel disconnected from the communities where they happen to reside during their college years. They're more concerned about rising college costs or whether they'll finish their research project on time. Some young people are attempting to juggle school and family responsibilities.

Perhaps collegians don't pay attention to local politics because they don't intend to spend the rest of their lives living in their college town.