The presidential race has tightened dramatically in Georgia -- it's now a toss-up state, according to Real Clear Politics, with just three points separating McCain and Obama in RCP's average of recent polls. Lounge looked at the impact young voters will have on whether Georgia stays red or turns blue on Nov. 4.

First the good news: Nationally, the percentage of registered voters age 18-24 who cast a ballot headed sharply upward from 2000 to 2004 -- an 11% increase, versus 3% for voters 25 and older. And there's good reason to think the trend will continue in 2008.

Now the bad news: Youth voting is still in the crapper. Even with an 11% bump, 18-to-24-year-olds were still about 19 points behind their older counterparts.

It's pretty much always been this way. In 1972, against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, Congress dropped the legal voting age from 21 to 18. Only half of these newly eligible citizens bothered to show up at the polls. And it was downhill from there. By 1996 (Clinton vs. Dole) and 2000 (Bush vs. Gore), young adult turnout was an embarrassing 35% and 36%.

Um, could we get back to the good news? Sure. If turnout during the 2008 primaries means anything, younger voters in Georgia have awakened in a big way to the impact that Election Day choices eventually have on their lives. That plunging economy? It'll bite your ass. That war? You might have to go fight it.

From 2000 to 2008, estimated turnout of voters age 18 to 29 in Georgia's Democratic primary surged 418%, from 34,132 to 176,948. Their Republican counterparts raised the bar by 81%, from 57,887 to 104,775. If you blend the two primaries together, youth voting more than tripled.

Which begs the most important question:  Will they show up again on Nov. 4?

Students that Lounge interviewed at Augusta State University seemed mostly tuned in and ready to do the electoral deed.

Randall Andersen, 22, plans on voting for the first time.

“If I can get called up to get shot at in a war, then I should at least go out and vote,” Anderson says. “You know? If I got that right, then I may as well use it.”

Andersen is unhappy with the current administration -- "Bush sucks," he says -- which is one of the reasons he plans to vote for Senator Obama.

Ian Dalbert, 19, shares a similar sentiment. “It’s time for a change…and I want to be a part of that change,” he says.

But Dalbert isn’t quite sure what kind of change he wants. He’s undecided whom to vote for, although he's leaning toward Obama.

Whittni Wright, a 21 year-old first time voter, notes that college-age adults are often insulated from the impact of decisions made by their elected officials. But she sees that changing.

“A lot of kids are still supported by their parents,” she explains. “But since the economy is so bad now, I think a lot of people are worried about what’s going on and want their voice heard.”

Mexed missages: Not every student we talked to was so engaged with the electoral process.

Several planned to vote but were unaware of the registration deadline. They were already too late. And one interviewee was under the impression that Senator Hillary Clinton is still running for president alongside Obama and McCain.

Then again, as with politicians, so with the rest of us. Always a few bad apples.

Results of a Gallup poll released Oct. 31 cast further doubt, however. Among adults age 18 to 29, 78% said they were definitely going to vote. That's two percent lower than 2004.