Campaign seeks
youth vote
Project aims to register young people before Oct. 4 deadline
by Noelle Leavitt
The Metropolitan
A national voters campaign is working to register 3,150 Auraria students
before Colorado’s voter registration deadline of Oct. 4.
The New Voters Project is a youth voter mobilization campaign that was
formed to influence young people to vote.
Only 36 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds voted in the 2000 elections, said
Matt Stringer, the New Voters Project director of the Denver office.
The non-profit, non-partisan project aims to send a higher percentage
of 18 to 24-year-olds to the polls in the 2004 elections.
“The tough part is getting people engaged and getting people to
register when they already feel that they don’t have a reason to,”
Stringer said. “It’s been beat into them that their vote doesn’t
make a difference and it doesn’t count. It really does, and getting
people convinced of that is a challenge.”
The national headquarters for the project is in Denver and there are
currently 10 New Voters Project offices in Colorado.
“For this office it’s our goal to register just over 27,000
18 to 24-year-olds in Denver,” Stringer said. “State wide
it’s 50,000.”
Volunteers and employees of the project stand outside liquor stores,
bars and grocery stores in Denver asking people who come and go if they
are registered to vote.
The New Voters Project at Auraria is located in the Tivoli’s Club
Hub on the third floor, and hopes to gain a chunk of those registrations.
“Our goal is to have 3,150 new Auraria voters that are between
the ages of 18 and 24,” said Bridget Fitzpatrick, Auraria campus
coordinator for the New Voters Project.
The project sends volunteers and employees all over the state asking
young people if they are registered to vote.
If they find people who are not registered, they register them, then
ask if they would be interested in joining their campaign.
“We are working six days a week,” Stringer said. “We
send out 15 to 20 people every day.”
The Denver office hopes to send out 40 people a day within the next week
or two, Stringer said.
The Auraria New Voters Project is currently looking for student volunteers
to help with their effort and also offer internship opportunities.
“We’re working with co-op in terms of setting up an internship
program,” said David Schwartz, who works for the Auraria New Voters
Project.
Three sponsors, George Washington University, the Public Interest Research
Center and the Pew Charitable Trust, fund the organization.
|
