Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

That's because none of the invited audience of nearly 100 attending the forum was old enough to vote.

The event was the first candidate forum just for Boulder County middle and high school youth.

It's an opportunity for these young people, some who will soon be able to vote, to find out where candidates stand on issues that concern them and to voice their own opinions, said Scott Luxor, event facilitator and a deputy managing editor at the Daily Camera, one of the sponsors of the forum.

We hope to get young people interested and involved in the election process early on, to let them know they count. Besides, a lot of them have some very good ideas and certainly a lot of energy we can tap into.

Congressional candidates including Democrat Mark Udall, Republican Carolyn Cox, Ron Forthofer of the Green Party and Libertarian David Baker, along with Democratic district attorney candidate Mary Keenan and Republican Dave Sanderson, each were given an opportunity to speak for three minutes about their platforms.

The young audience then asked the candidates questions, most dealing with education, the use of standardized testing, the environment and health and medical care issues.

In the end, the candidates agreed it had been a worthwhile event.

It is vital that we let young people know they are an important part of the process, Forthofer said. We hope we can energize them and encourage them to become involved. We are fighting a battle against apathy, and if we don't win that battle we are in danger of losing our democracy.

It's a wonderful opportunity for both the candidates and the young people, Cox said. I don't know how much they got out of it, but I was thrilled to be a part of it.

Kate Hartman and Jennifer Hernandez, both 17, said they were impressed with the large turnout and that all the candidates showed up.

It was very interesting to see them all together so you could listen to the differences and the similarities, Hernandez said.

I think it clearly demonstrated that different candidates represent different options and solutions to problems, said Nell Geiser, one of the forum's moderators. And it's great this many young people got to share their opinions with the candidates as well as hear their platforms.