When Pembroke West voters went to by-election polls last year to elect a new MP, fewer than ten percent of eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 35 turned out to vote, according to at least one of the candidates.

Yet the 6,117 eligible voters aged between 18 and 30 across the Island make up a potentially pivotal 17 percent of all eligible voters. And of that figure, some 1,264 will be voting for the first time in the General Election which must be called by October.

Therefore The Royal Gazette sought to find out how interested young voters are in politics -- and how interested political parties are in them.

Rodney Smith, who is running for the Progressive Labour Party in the Pembroke West by-election now underway, said when he unsuccessfully ran against Erwin Adderley in last year's by-election, his figures showed that only about eight percent of the roughly 500 young people between the ages of 18 and 35 voted.

Turn-out of the 35-to-55 and 55-and-over age groups was around 70 and 90 percent, respectively, he noted.

"I'm told that MPs say one thing and do something entirely different,'' Mr.

Smith said, adding that the young were looking for someone they could trust.

Bermuda College political science lecturer and researcher Walton Brown Jr.

says politically apathy on the part of the young could be because young people feel their needs are not being met.

"There is a great deal of awareness, but also a great deal of alienation from the parties and the process on the part of young people,'' he said.

"There is lip service paid to them, but they (young people) don't see any concrete policy or concern,'' Mr. Brown said.

"Some don't often see that public policy directly affects youth issues like employment, education and crime.'' The Bermuda College's Student Council plans to hold politically-related events this semester.

Vice president Iletha Morris, who noted that both the Premier and the Opposition have addressed the students, said her peers were aware of politics but often followed their families in voting.

Mr. Brown, who also owns a research firm, also stressed that he wished to quash the idea that those in their 20s were without any political savvy.

"One might say that they don't vote or are naive, but its likely that they've chosen not to vote because they're not satisfied with the choices, only occasionally will you meet someone without any interest,'' he said.

"They see that the parties just want them to vote and so you get a cynical response from them.'' Nonetheless, there are many young people who are actively involved in politics and are working to get their peers interested as well.

Kerry Judd, vice chairperson of Young United Bermuda, described the United Bermuda Party's youth wing as focusing "on the voting group between 18 and early 30s as a whole''.

"Our goal is to introduce them to politics and make them more aware of the party and its youth activities,'' she said.

"We will be starting a membership drive with the intention of also getting them registered to vote. It is important that they know that if they don't use their vote they won't make a difference.'' YUB has spent the last few months trying to "regroup and restructure and open other avenues''.

Ralph Richardson, head of the UBP Youth Committee which acts as liaison and guide to YUB, said: "YUB is for young people who want to learn the political process, the president even sits on the central executive and the extended caucus (of the party).'' Mr. Richardson added: "YUB helps identify those that are interested and gives them a grounding in politics.

"All over the world there is a problem with getting young people involved, but a few are just waiting to be prodded.'' PLP youth wing member Karli Smith said the Opposition also believed that the youth vote was very important.

She noted that the party was looking at some events that interest and will attract young people, including possibly an 18 to 21 dance where Parliamentary registration would be required as part of admission.

"Young people are not as educated in the political process as they should be,'' Miss Smith said. "The party encourages them to be involved so that they can have their say in the running of their Country.'' Andrew Phillips and Glad Simmons, of Dread & Baha Productions, said the concert and event promoters "intend to intensify the call to all people the importance of being registered, with specific reference to the youth''.

"Our research indicates that those who do not vote are either black or youth,'' Mr. Simmons explained.

To encourage youth to register, the group had a registration drive outside Dub City in Hamilton during 1997.

"Fear, apathy, and cynicism has had an effect, but we would like to change that,'' he added. "The politicians think that blacks and youth don't vote.'' He claimed there was an average of 25 percent of the population that did not participate.

"Dread & Baha have had incident-free events with 1,000 to 4,000 potential young voters, and we intend to have more events,'' Mr. Phillips added.