Skipping down the London street where I lived, at six o’clock on a glorious May morning in 1997, I was jubilant. For the first time in my life I was living in a country where I had voted for the government. My vote had counted; my voice had been heard.

Voting has long been seen as a rite of passage into adulthood and this year many 18 to 24 year olds will have the right to cast their ballot at a General Election for the first time. But in 2005 just 37 per cent of eligible young people voted and few experts expect a sudden surge interest this year.

Across the country slightly more people voted in 2005, than 2001 but overall turnout remained the third lowest since 1847, at just over 60 per cent. An investigation by the Electoral Commission found that young people were only half as likely to vote as older age groups and concluded that many people stayed at home because they thought the result was a foregone conclusion.

As the election hangs in the balance and polls suggest David Cameron and the Conservatives face a fierce battle to overturn the Labout government – the only thing all politicians can agree on is that every vote will count. So will this be enough to make students and young people visit the ballot box?

Not according to Martin Boon from ICM which conducts polls for The Guardian. He said: “Young people do deserve their reputation for apathy. Turnout estimates by demographics are unreliable in the extreme but I’d not expect more than 30 per cent of all 18 to 24s to turnout, even in a high turnout election.”

The British Social Attitudes Survey, which tracks trends in attitudes to voting, has identified a decline in the belief that voting is a civic duty, particularly amongst young people.

Alison Park, co-director, said: “The general view is that it is very unlikely that turnout will return to the levels pre 2001 and 2005. I don’t expect it to jump to over 70 per cent unless some big issue emerges in the next few months that galvanises young people. A big issue would show that there’s a real point to voting.”

Robin Pettitt, lecturer in comparative politics at Kingston University has a different perspective. He said: “The impression one gets, both from the research and from asking around, is that people are probably just as engaged now as they were 20 years ago. But the way that people are politically engaged is very, very different. When people want to be engaged now, they no longer think about trade unions, political parties and voting. They tend to think much more about single issue groups, demonstrations, one-off political activities.”

The Obama campaign’s mastery of social media has been credited as a factor in persuading young people in the USA to cast their ballot in November 2008. Could our political parties learn from his example?

Molly Kearney from the Citizenship Foundation, which recently conducted a survey of 3,000 14 to 25 year olds with YouGov, is not so convinced. She said: “Politicians are using social media in the best way they know how but they are missing a trick. They are focusing on Twitter and Facebook but not talking about the issues young people are passionate about.”

Max Freedman, the Labour Party candidate in the Kingston and Surbiton constituency, agrees. He said: “I don’t think that using new technology like text voting is the way forward. It’s about thinking where to put polling stations. Putting polling stations in supermarkets and places where people are already going, makes it easier for them to vote.”

Sir Robert Worcester, of Ipsos MORI, has written on his blog that turnout will be key in determining who will be calling Number 10 home on the morning after the election. He believes that if turnout is low, then it will be David Cameron who the Queen will ask to form the next Government but that Gordon Brown still has a fighting chance if turnout hits the 70 per cent mark.

At the general election in 2005, over 55’s accounted for 42 per cent of the total turnout, giving that age group a disproportionate impact on which party won the mandate to govern the country. When deciding whether to exercise your democratic right to vote in 2010, remember that it is just 40 years since 18 to 21 year olds have had the opportunity to cast their ballot at the 1970 election.

Make your vote count, make your voice heard.