Results showed that 91.73 percent respondents plan on voting in the 2016 presidential elections. Over 71 percent of them voted in the mid-term elections Nov. 4. When asked how informed of local political issues do they feel they were, high responses were among expert, well informed and slightly informed. When asked about state and national political issues a majority answered they were just well informed. Respondents identified themselves as 46 percent democratic and 27 percent republican. When asked who ran for governor in the mid-term elections 94 percent said they were aware of the running parties. When asked if politicians care about youth voters, 55 percent of respondents said no. However, 77 percent said politicians should care. When asked what topics politicians should focus on to grasp youth voters attention, the most popular answer was among social issues.

Politicians still struggling to grasp youth voters attention

Politics has never been a hot topic in past years for college students, this year's midterm elections proved no different.

Political leaders are still having a hard time reaching college students due to their ongoing disinterest in politics. Central Michigan University Student Government Association President Charles Mahone said this disinterest stems from a disconnection between candidates and students.

A survey was conducted by Central Michigan Life asking voters about their political stance and involvement. Results based off of 121 respondents showed 57 percent said they don't feel politicians care about young voters. However, the survey also showed that 76 percent said that politicians should care about young voters.

"Most students think their vote doesn't matter and won't make a difference on election day," Mahone said. "They don't believe they're tied to anything very significant going on. Nine out of ten times I don't think that's true, there are many social issues that we student are tied to and should vote on."

When asked what issues politicians should focus on, students mentioned a wide array of social issues varying from equal marriage, equal pay, mental health issues, the environment and education reform. One respondent asked for any outreach from politicians.

Mahone found an interest in politics early on in his middle school years. Other students, such as Traverse City sophomore Trevor Ackler, have never found politics interesting.

"I know I should get into politics, but it's boring. and I don't care enough to," Ackler said. "A lot of it is bullshit anyways. Most of the proposals are shot down even if the vote is in their favor."

Many college students feel as though elections and politics aren't worth their time because it doesn't directly impact them. Central Michigan University CollegeRepublicans President Trino Schincariol said this myth is nothing new.

"Only one third of college students are registered voters, and only a quarter actually end up voting," Schincariol said. "Our society now is so instant, it has to be right then and now for students to believe it. This generation doesn't want to invest in politicians. They really underestimate the impact they have on the elections."

In the 2012 election, Barack Obama had the largest number of student voters, which paved his way to the White House. The democratic candidate purposely targeted young voters due to their projected large impact on the elections.

"After the Obama election, the country saw how much of an impact young voters could have on the country," Mahone said. "Obama directly targeted students in campaigns. He did this by going to campus' and actively pursuing young voters. Many politicians picked up on that, the trend is growing and the mindset is changing. Our generation can be active, we just have to start caring."

However, politicians usually have bad reputations, projected heavily advertising campaigns during the election. One respondent of the survey said politic leaders have their attention, but not in a good way due to them focusing solely on their salaries and re-election.

For Ackler, they've never given him a reason to care about them or their campaigns.

"Politics in general have a bad reputation, they've provided the people with a lot of incorrect and corrupt information in the past," Ackler said. "For example, I've never believed in the need to deploy troops without a reasonable cause, and yet the government keeps doing it without a good enough explanation."

For political advocates on campus, students have the ability to change what they dislike with the government if they choose to vote. However, according to Schincariol, that is easier said than done.

"(College Republicans) registered students to vote earlier on in the year and a lot of them just said no and walked away from our table," he said. "When we asked them why, they usually said they didn't care and it didn't affect them enough. In reality most of them just didn't want to take the time to do it, but they really should. If students voted more, it'd be make a huge difference. They would change a lot."

The need to vote may be important, but students aren't the targeted audience for most political campaigns. For Ackler, along with other college students, they're uninformed on the election, and they don't care enough to research the candidates on their free time.

However, students seem to show a greater interest in who will be president. According to the survey, 91 percent of respondents said they will be voting in the 2016 presidential elections.

"If you didn't vote in this election, that is more than alright, just make sure you vote and inform yourself in the 2016 election," Mahone said.