The youth vote has always been a difficult demographic to capture.

But the passion and enthusiasm of 18-to-29-year-olds, particularly students on college campuses, can be critical to raising the profile of a candidate and consciousness around their issues of concern.

Getting young voters to the polls has proven difficult, however. After turnout highs in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the youth vote dipped sharply into the early 2000s. President Barack Obama helped put a halt to that decline, with youth voting actually tripling or more in some states in 2008.

Nationally, the youth vote as a percentage of the electorate swelled to 19 percent in 2012.

With the Georgia presidential primary set Tuesday, along with contests in 13 other states, candidates on either side of the political aisle are out to attract young people to their cause in 2016, a possible difference in winning the party’s nomination.

The Politically Incorrect Club at the University of North Georgia held a mock primary last week in which 1,753 students, staff and faculty cast ballots. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was the top choice with 27 percent of the votes overall, 84 percent among Democrats, while Hillary Clinton had just 5 percent of the votes cast.

Businessman Donald Trump led the GOP field with 29 percent, just ahead of Sen. Marco Rubio’s 28.9 percent. Sen. Ted Cruz had 23.3 percent, Dr. Ben Carson 15.1 percent and Gov. John Kasich 3.7 percent.

In all, 63 percent of students cast votes for Republicans, 35 percent for Democrats and 2 percent for third-party choices.

Samantha Morales, a dual enrollment student from North Forsyth High School, said Wednesday afternoon the process was going “better than I thought.” Most people passed by Morales and the table set up for the election, but enough stopped to maintain a steady stream.

Philip Thornhill, an exercise science major from Flowery Branch, said he voted “just because” and that he “probably (would) not” vote in Tuesday’s election.

Davis Van Scoy, a graphic design major from Suwanee, declined to talk about his choice other than to say, “I’m not a big fan of the options I have.”

GOP SUPPORTERS MOSTLY SPLIT

The Politically Incorrect Club itself draws some of the staunchest young conservatives around. They are split on whom to support, however.

Dylan Lewis said he has gone back and forth in his preference.

“During the early stages of the campaign season, I was all about Donald Trump,” he said. “Once I began to see the true nature of this man, it was frightening.”

Rubio, on the other hand, appears to be the conservative counterweight to John F. Kennedy, Lewis said, noting the candidate is a young, intelligent and charismatic figure on the rise.

But Rubio has problems, too, Lewis said.

“The things that have come out of Rubio’s mouth lately have sounded rehearsed and cliché,” he added. “I think he’s a snake in the grass.”

That leaves only Cruz; no student expressed support for Kasich or Carson.

“I feel like he gets the raw end of the deal from the media, as well as his peers in the Republican Party, because he does not sacrifice his values or bend on his beliefs,” Lewis said.

Austin Bishop said he supports Rubio for the very reasons the candidate is sometimes criticized.

“I’ve been sporting a Marco Rubio lapel pen on my backpack since late last semester,” he said. “His stance on immigration, however, has caused some questioning. I, for one, am behind Rubio on his immigration policies. While I do consider myself to be a conservative, I might be in the minority in that I am not opposed to granting citizenship to illegal immigrants.”

The system needs reform, Bishop added, and the government should not stand in the way of hardworking, productive members of society.

Luke Schrader, meanwhile, said each candidate has good qualities, and he’s OK with Rubio or Cruz. But he prefers Trump.

“I am a Christian, but I am not choosing my candidate based on that,” he said. “That is, however, a factor in favor of my eventual choice. Donald Trump is someone who has had international dealings in the past and knows what it is like to be an actual American. He also has enough money to fund his own campaign, and thus cannot be bought and corrupted.”

Trump scored a victory in last weekend’s South Carolina primary, but it remains to be seen if his appeal will carry over to Georgia and other Southern states.

Ronna Wunsch, a Spanish major, said she voted for Trump in the mock primary because “he is the only one that has the capacity to pull us out of the financial jam the U.S. is in.” The New York developer also is “not part of the good, ol’ boys network,” Wunsch said.

Christopher Schoenmann said Cruz is the most principled of the remaining candidates and has been consistent in his voting record.

“Possibly one of the biggest factors that led me to picking Cruz is his ongoing defense of the unborn,” Schoenmann said. “Cruz understands the value of human life and understands that the battle of abortion is not a women’s rights issue but rather a human rights issue.”

Amanda Kemp said Cruz or Rubio are the obvious choices to return the nation to the principles of the Constitution.

“These last eight years the Constitution seems to have been ignored and put into shame while Obama ignores the rights given to us by our forefathers,” Kemp said. “The federal government is trying to take control of every aspect of our beloved country, and it is not what the founders of the United States wanted.”

Gabriella Pacheco said she was raised with competing political influences in her life.

“I was so blessed to grow up with a mother who is a Ronald Reagan conservative and a father who will always lean on the Democrat side,” she said. “Having both political views in my life, I was able to make my own decision on how I will vote and I have picked to vote Republican.”

Trump is disrespectful, she said, so he’s out. And Rubio lacks confidence.

Cruz has the policy initiatives right, including a focus on a flat tax, championing the Second Amendment, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service and repealing the Affordable Care Act, Pacheco said.

MOST DEMOCRATS FAVOR SANDERS

It’s evident that Sanders has considerable traction among college students and 20-somethings upset over income inequality and corporate influence in elections. The heavy turnout at his recent rally at Morehouse College in Atlanta emphasized that point.

Chelsey Brown, president of the Black Student Association at Brenau University, said most members of her group openly endorsed Sanders at a recent meeting.

“As far as supporting Hillary on the mere account that she is a woman, most feel she doesn’t say much about her plans,” Brown said. “She hasn’t really touched on all the issues, especially the important issues to a younger generation. While it would be monumental to have the first female president, most feel that she is simply not the right woman for the job.”

In contrast, Sanders, an older, white Jewish man from the Northeast, “is the only candidate relatable to young African-Americans,” Brown said. “He seems to be the only candidate speaking on issues that affect our lives.”

But to UNG student Maria Palacios, Clinton is an enticing candidate as both a woman and pragmatist.

“I think other politicians have invested highly in trying to convince women to not vote for (Clinton) just because she is a woman,” Palacios said. “In a reverse psychology move, we are told that a true feminist doesn’t support Hillary on the sole basis she is a woman and instead should not support her to prove that point. It’s a ridiculous thought to be shamed out of supporting a woman who has been working hard for this role all her life.”

Still, there’s more to Clinton’s appeal for Palacios than simple identity politics. Qualifications for “leader of the free world” resonate strongly with her.

“She may have made mistakes here and there, but she has more knowledge and experience than all the other top contenders combined,” Palacios said. “No one has been at the forefront of decisions like she has in the various roles she’s held in the last decade.”

An endorsement from the Congressional Black Caucus and civil rights leaders like U.S. Rep. John Lewis helped solidify Palacios’ support for Clinton.

“Bernie Sanders would be a small island in an ocean of Republican gridlock. Hillary, I believe, has enough political know-how to get the job done in the political climate we live in,” she said.

UNG student Paul Glaze said his support for Sanders is multifaceted and based, in many respects, on the self-proclaimed democratic socialist’s foreign policy agenda. Sanders’ appeal with young voters has always been his economic positions.

“He thinks that massive corporations who use their wealth to lobby the United States government shouldn’t be receiving enormous tax breaks while millions of children are in poverty,” Glaze said. “Today, in the United States, the working poor live up to 20 years shorter than the wealthiest Americans.”

But Glaze said the candidate has the best record when it comes to supporting veterans, opposing the Iraq War and calling for an end to the post-9/11 surveillance apparatus established by the Patriot Act.

“Ultimately, our foreign policy decisions, as it relates to the world, must include what is best for the people of that region,” he added.

That outward-looking focus is something fellow student Mallika Dinesh hopes resonates with other voters.

Dinesh is from India and can’t vote, but she said she wants to see American students and the middle-class empowered by taking Wall Street excess to task.

“It is important to me, even though I can’t vote, because politics affects me and everyone around me and the community I care about,” she said. “I may not vote, but your vote affects me.”