A week and a half.
That’s all the time left for first-time voters to register in Illinois if they want to vote in November’s election. And that means that all the groups out there trying to get more young people to vote–Rock the Vote, Declare Yourself, the League of Pissed Off Voters, the Hip-Hop Action Summit and a host of local organizations–are doing a full-court press to get as many people registered before the Oct. 5 deadline.
Even Oprah’s getting in on the act. She’s hosting a voting party on her show scheduled to air Tuesday, according to mtv.com, that will feature Christina Aguilera, P. Diddy and Drew Barrymore. All three stars have been working this year to get young people interested in the political process–Christina with Declare Yourself, P. Diddy with Citizen Change/Vote or Die, Barrymore with her documentary “The Best Place to Start.”
They’re up against some daunting statistics. In the 2000 election, 42 percent of
18- to 24-year-olds eligible to vote went to the polls, according the Harvard University Institute of Politics. In Illinois, 47 percent of eligible 18- to 24-year-olds voted in 2000.
These groups know young people have busy lives, and they want to make voting as easy as possible for them. They’ve created information Web sites, phone hotlines, voter guides and other resources intended to make the process simpler for anyone who’s interested in participating Nov. 2.
Here’s a look at what some of them are up to.
Ten days left … seven days left … five days left … three days left … one day to go
Citizens Information Service, a local voter education group that’s been around for more than 50 years, is doing a countdown to let people know how many days are left to register to vote. “Countdown Chicago” can be heard on several local radio stations, including WGCI-FM, until Oct. 5.
“I believe if you continuously plug it into their heads, young people will be more inclined to look into the process,” said Reggie Winfrey, executive director of the group.
But getting people to register is only the first step, Winfrey said. Citizens Information Service works to help first-time voters and holds info sessions for newbie voters in neighborhoods including Pilsen and Grand Boulevard. Also, the group works with Chicago Public Schools to do voter education.
The organization can provide individuals with any help they need–finding their polling place, for example, or figuring out how to request absentee ballots. Call 312-939-INFO.
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Voter interest is high, MTV poll shows
MTV announced the results of a new “Choose or Lose” poll, indicating that three out of four young people are registered to vote and eight out of 10 are planning to vote. Other poll results:
46% of those polled prefer Sen. John Kerry.
40% prefer President Bush.
4% support Ralph Nader.
10% other/undecided.
Los Angeles Times
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Edited by Lara Weber (lweber@tribune.com) and Michael Morgan (mnmorgan@tribune.com)
