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Young voters respond to outreach
November 3rd, 2010
Today, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) released its first numbers on young voters and their participation in yesterday’s midterm elections. While CIRCLE found that young voter turnout was comparable to recent midterm elections, they also found that young voter turnout went up in states where Vote Again 2010 partners were actively engaging young people.
An estimated 20.4% of those under age 30 voted in yesterday’s election compared with the 23.5% who voted in 2006. However, in many precincts where organizations were on the ground registering young voters and making get out the vote contacts, the number of votes cast by young people increased.
This confirms that when you reach out to them, young voters are ready to embrace becoming active participants in the political process. Vote Again 2010 partners and youth-serving organizations around the country will continue to build upon the proven success of their field models and digital strategies to work towards a future where young people are included in the conversation every election cycle.
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Find your polling place with Google Election Center
November 1st, 2010
There are a number of ways to find your polling place, but now it’s even easier with the Google Election Center, a tool from the Voting Information Project. With Google Election Center you simply type in your home address to see a Google Map with the polling location closest to you. The site offers directions to the polling place, links to your Secretary of State’s website to find more voting information, the state’s voter hotline, and a list of statewide and local candidates.
You can also share the election center tool with others by grabbing the embed code and putting it on your own website.
With tools like these, the Voting Information Project hopes to answer the three with which they believe voters most often struggle:
- How do I register or find out if I’m registered?
- Where do I vote?
- What’s on the ballot?
If you or someone you know still needs to answer these questions, give Google Election Center a try now. Make sure you’re ready to get out to the polls this Tuesday, November, 2nd.
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Plan Ahead So Voters Aren’t Left Behind
October 29th, 2010
by Ruth Greenwood, Fair Elections Legal Network
Organizers can help voters ensure their ballots are counted by being aware of some simple State-by-State GOTV Tips that we at the Fair Elections Legal Network (FELN) have published for 12 states. For campus organizers we have 2 page tips for CO, FL, MO, NC, OH and PA. For organizations doing non-campus GOTV there are one page tips for 12 states.
These guides have information about:
- When and where early voting is occurring;
- Who is allowed to send in an absentee ballot;
- What time the polls are open on Election Day;
- What ID voters will need to present to poll workers; and
- What to do if voters have moved before Election Day
With some basic GOTV, early voting, and Election Day planning, organizers can help ensure that ballots cast are ballots counted!
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A Rally for Our Generation
October 28th, 2010
What will Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s rally mean to young people?
Yesterday in her blog on The Huffington Post, Rock the Vote President Heather Smith suggested that the rally shows young people are still paying attention to the political process, despite their increased cynicism due to partisan bickering this election cycle.
She believes the rally will be an opportunity for our generation to come together:
“The fact that young people identify with Stewart and Colbert’s ironic tone doesn’t mean they’ve given up on civic engagement. As they demonstrated in 2008, young people are hungry to be a part of something larger than themselves. Our recent young voter poll also showed that while young people may be more cynical about politics, an overwhelming majority of 83% believes their generation has the power to change this country. That belief will be manifested in the rally, where young people will come together on the National Mall and at dozens of satellite rallies around the country regardless of party affiliation.”
Smith concludes that events like the rally serve as a platform from which young people can make their voices heard. You can make your voice heard by pledging to vote and then getting out to the polls this coming Tuesday, November 2nd.
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Foursquare introduces “I Voted” badge
October 27th, 2010
When you go to vote this coming Tuesday, November 2nd, hop on Foursquare to check in at your polling place.
The location-based social media service will be offering an “I Voted” badge for the midterm elections, giving you a way to proudly announce your political participation to your whole network.
As described on Foursquare’s I Voted page, the project has three purposes: “to encourage civic participation, increase transparency in the voting process and develop a replicatable system for the 2012 Presidential Election.”
Foursquare has teamed up with Rock the Vote, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Voting Information Project, and Google to encourage its more than four million users to make voting the most popular trend on the web.
To earn the badge, all you have to do is go to your polling place, check in (and vote!), and then include the hashtag “ivoted” in your shout out. Your vote will then show up on an interactive map with more than 107,000 polling locations across the country.
Visit Foursquare.com to get the app for your phone and be ready to check in on November 2nd!
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TurboVote: Making voting from home even easier
October 26th, 2010
As detailed in this article on The Huffington Post, three Harvard Kennedy School graduate students have come up with a website that makes voting from home easier than ever. TurboVote, as creator Seth Flaxman told The Huffington Post, is “Netflix applied to elections.”
Using the non-partisan TurboVote, you simply enter your information online and the service will mail you an absentee ballot request form with all that personal info already filled in and prepaid stamped envelopes to send it back. (The only cost you pay is for the and printing and postage, which is $1.93). TurboVote will also send you free e-mail and text message reminders to vote for every election so that you never miss the chance to simply mail in your absentee ballot request and then vote from home.
You can also receive a voter registration form from your state using the same process with TurboVote.
Check out the video below and hear more about TurboVote from the group’s founders.
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Five myths about young voters
October 26th, 2010
Last week in the Washington Post, Rock the Vote President Heather Smith outlined five of the biggest myths about young voters.
Smith notes that candidates need to do a better job of reaching out to young voters and that despite improved technology for digital outreach, registration and Get-Out-the-Vote efforts must not leave out traditional methods of door knocking and face to face interaction.
On this myth that “With Facebook and text messages, there’s no need to knock on doors anymore,” Smith says:
“There’s nothing more powerful than a friend talking to a friend. A Facebook account or a text message blast does not replace personal outreach.”
In addition to talking with friends, you can also pledge to vote, and sign up to volunteer with Rock the Vote. Election Day is only a week away and there are some great Trick or Vote events lined up for Halloween weekend in Gainesville, Columbus, Philadelphia, and Chapel Hill. Volunteers for the Columbus event get to meet the band OK Go and see their show for free later that night and volunteers for the Chapel Hill event get to do the same with the band Passion Pit.
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A Panel Discussion with The League of Women Voters
October 26th, 2010
This Thursday, October 28 at 4 p.m., The League of Women Voters will be hosting a special panel discussion on young people and civic engagement in the Jack Morton Auditorium at George Washington University.
The discussion, called Beyond Election Day: Young People Getting Involved in Democracy, will be a chance to hear from a diverse panel of those who are plugged in to what’s happening on the ground with young voters before Election Day. Panelists include:
Elisabeth MacNamara, National President of The League of Women Voters
Monifa Bandele, Senior Programs and Outreach Manager, The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
Mark Hugo Lopez, Associate Director, Pew Hispanic Center
Matthew Segal, Executive Director, Student Association for Voter Empowerment
To RSVP for the event, click here, or e-mail ccota@lwv.org. The discussion will run from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and will be followed by a reception.
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College students facing heavy debt, unemployment
October 26th, 2010
It’s no wonder many young people list college affordability as one of their top issues.
A report released last week by Project Student Debt, found that college students nationwide carried an average of $24,000 in student loan debt in 2009. This figure is up 6% from 2008 and an increasingly tough job market isn’t making things any easier.
The report also found that unemployment for recent college graduates is up from 5.8% in 2008 to 8.7% in 2009. Project Student Debt notes that while the 6% increase is similar to the average increase over the past four years, the unemployment number is the highest annual rate on record for college graduates aged 20 to 24. You can see more details on student debt in your specific state by clicking here.
Numbers like these can be discouraging to college students, but it’s important to remember that your vote can affect college affordability and job creation. If you’re concerned about paying for college and getting a job afterward, do some research on your local candidates and see where they stand on these issues. Then vote to let them know where you stand.
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HyperVocal: Your news, your generation
October 25th, 2010
A new site called HyperVocal provides young people with a look at today’s news cycle from the perspective of fellow members of their generation.
The site aims to serve as a voice for Millennials, offering young people’s perspectives on everything from viral videos to the midterm elections. HyperVocal is a unique destination, a place where young people can find news analysis and commentary from their peers all in one place. The site also supports a good cause, as a portion of the profits go to education and literacy programs to help educate young people.
As detailed on HyperVocal’s “About” page, the site “combines the best of what’s working on the web into one all-encompassing home page with a community feel. It’s a news aggregator of what’s relevant and important. It’s a constantly growing interconnected network of blogs from bright, young minds from around the world. It’s a smart, witty editorial team churning out timely original text, audio and video content. It’s the first place you’ll see all those viral videos you normally see 48 hours after everyone else. It’s entirely digital, entirely social, and entirely integrated with Facebook, Twitter and every major content-sharing portal on the web.”
In addition to content from the HyperVocal team, youth-serving organizations such as Rock the Vote have been featured as guest bloggers on the site and there are sure to be many more. Check it out and get a new take on news from your peers.
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The 2010 Midterm Youth Debate
October 25th, 2010
This Halloween, the 2010 Midterm Youth Debate will feature videos of Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele answering questions from young people. The videos will air at noon on Sunday, October 31st, giving young people one last look to see where both parties stand before the midterm elections on Tuesday, November 2nd.
You can be sure there won’t be any easy questions for Kaine and Steele, as young people submitted their questions to the site and voted for those they most wanted the party Chairs to answer.
The Presidential Youth Debates have been connecting presidential candidates and young people since 1996. You can check out the one from 2008 here to get a sense of how it works.
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A reminder to vote from big names in music
October 22nd, 2010
If you pledged to vote through our friends at HeadCount, you may be receiving a call from one of your favorite artists. Each one of the thousands of people who pledged to vote with HeadCount also indicated which artist they would most like to get a call from reminding them of their pledge to vote in the November 2nd midterm elections. While most fans will receive a pre-recorded call, at least 100 lucky winners will receive a live call from one of the artists.
Artists’ participating in the effort include ?uestlove of The Roots, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, , Adam Gardner of Guster, and HeadCount Co-Chair Marc Brownstein of The Disco Biscuits (pictured left with HeadCount volunteers).
The reminder from these artists is just one of the many ways that HeadCount teams up with musicians to get out the vote for Election Day. HeadCount will be at concerts all next week and leading up to Election Day with bands like Guster, My Morning Jacket, and The Disco Biscuits. You can sign up to volunteer at a show near you by clicking here.
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The Generational Alliance Releases New Voter Guides
October 22nd, 2010
The Generational Alliance has teamed up with Voto Latino and Cuéntame,to release new non-partisan voter guides for Arizona, Florida, California, Colorado, Wisconsin, Texas, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, Minnesota, New York, and Oregon.
Each guide gives you an overview of the issues at stake in the upcoming election, breaks down ballot measures, lists the candidates, and provides election protection resources.
According to the Generational Alliance website, “the guide tells you what you need to know before you step in the voting booth. We got all the info you need to get out and vote this election because too much is at stake to just sit this one out. If you are in one of the following states, don’t just check out the voter guide for yourself–download it, print it, share it with your friends and fam.”
You can also check out voter education events happening in your area by clicking here.
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