One of the unknowns hanging over the outcome of the U.S. presidential race is whether young people will actually participate in the election. Many members of Generation Y have expressed support for Barack Obama - but will they vote?

It is reasonable to worry - turnout among young voters declined throughout the 1980s and 1990s. It's been widely true that older citizens vote in higher numbers than do younger.

But in this election, I believe young people will participate. Here are seven reasons Obama-supporting Y's, in particular, will vote - the first three related to the electoral process in general, one related to the issues on the table, and three related specifically to the candidates in this race.

1. Generation Y's are, on the whole, more civically inclined and less cynical than members of the previous generation.

As a generation, the Y's represent a significant shift in attitude from Generation Xers, whose disillusionment with the world they witnessed as teens caused many to withdraw from establishment processes and institutional solutions.

There is already evidence that Generation Y is reversing the trend of Gen Xers' declining involvement in voting. The trend in falling voter turnout among young people actually reversed in 2004, the first presidential election in which the oldest Y's were eligible to vote. In 2004, the percentage of individuals ages 18-29 who voted (49 percent) represented an increase of 9 percentage points from 2000. While participation rates for young people still lagged behind older adults overall, the rise in voter turnout among those ages 30 and older was a much more modest 3 percentage points - from 65 percent to 68 percent. Y's were the fastest-growing segment.

2. It is socially cool to vote. (Okay, "cool" may be a Boomer term, but you get what I mean.)

For many Y's, voting this year has become a group activity. For example, on college campuses across the U.S., students are figuring out where their vote would count most - in their home state or in the state where they go to school. Many in Massachusetts went to the post office together to request absentee ballots; in battleground states, dorm meetings helped freshmen register to vote locally.

3. They know their vote counts.

In Starbucks, the clubhouse of the Y's, flyers this week remind latte sippers that the 2000 presidential election was decided by 537 votes - that's 537 out of 5,963,070 cast in the state of Florida - less than 0.01% .

4. Y's are deeply and personally affected by many of the issues now on the table.

In my interviews with Y's over the past 3 or 4 years, I've been consistently struck by the passion and priority many Y's place on universal access to health care and education. These issues are not abstract goals for Y's - they represent daily impediments in their lives. Many Y's are angry - and perhaps a bit shocked - to learn that they cannot afford health care and that they are entering adult life saddled with significant school-related debt. For others, the Iraq war or the financial crisis, both of which of course also affect Y's to varying degrees, are high priorities. The key point is, this election does not feel to Y's like it's only relevant in some abstract way or to some "other guy" - it is immensely personal.

5. McCain's major argument not only doesn't resonate with many Y's - it comes across as patronizing.

Y's are a confident bunch. Most are jumping into the adult world with a high level of self-esteem. They are comfortable figuring things out as they go. Gen Y's as a whole are more than willing to express their own ideas, bring new thinking to issues or problems, and critique the way things have always been done.

Telling Y's that only someone with "experience" can do a job is a discordant message. It just doesn't make sense to young people who are used to figuring out how to get things done in a rapidly changing world. To think that only someone from the Traditionalist generation, relying on experience gained over the last 50 years, would be able to guide us in this ambiguous, ever-evolving future? Please.

6. Obama's approach to the campaign process has dispersed ownership.

Those involved with Obama's candidacy have a very unique relationship with the campaign and the candidate--one that is often mischaracterized as that of passionate supporters. In fact, they would be better described as "owners," or as John Sviokia wrote in a post on this site earlier this year, http://conversationstarter.hbsp.com/2008/01/members_vs_customers_how_the_o.html, "members" of the Obama campaign. "Supporter" implies a subordinate and perhaps impersonal relationship. Through the smart use of progressive Web 2.0 approaches and excellent organization, Obama's campaign has created a community of active participants. The effect, whether termed "ownership" or "membership," instills a level of obligation far beyond a mere expression of preference.

7. There's no reason to worry about a "Bradley effect" among Generation Y.

Y's are as close to color-blind a generation as we've yet seen. For American Y's, diversity is a fact of life. Six of ten teenagers today say they have friends of diverse racial backgrounds. Ninety-five percent of adult Gen Y's approve of blacks and whites dating, and 60 percent say they have dated someone of a different race. The likelihood that a Gen Y will decide in the privacy of the voting booth that they just can't vote for a black man is extremely low.

Y's know that voting is the in thing to do. Sitting this one out is not cool.

And I recognize that this post undoubtedly reflects some of my own views and perhaps my coastal habitat. So, please tell me what you are seeing from your vantage point. I hope you'll share your experiences with the generations' reactions to this year's election - and I hope those of you who are Americans, of any age, will vote.

This post included excerpts from my latest book, written to help Generation Y succeed in today's workplace - Plugged In: The Generation Y Guide to Thriving at Work.