Quaker Action, Summer 2004

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Iraq; What Lies Ahead

I Want to Vote

Land of the Free?

Missing at the Polls

Asylum ABC's

A Buffalo You Can Take to the Bank

Reflections

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Missing at the Polls

It's a tremendous, largely untapped resource: the 23.9 million U.S. citizens 18-to-25 who are eligible to vote.

In 2000, fewer than half went to the polls. But with a concerted effort, that can change. Studies show that simply asking young people to vote raises the likelihood they will do so by 8-to-12 percentage points.*

March for Women's Lives   Bears for PEace Hip-hop concert in boston
AFSC will promote voter registration and education to young people throughout the summer and fall at events such as the recent Beats for Peace hip-hop concert in Boston (right) and the March for Women's Lives (left).

Throughout the country, AFSC youth programs are priming the pump of that deep electoral well by incorporating voter education, registration, and mobilization into their ongoing work.

  • Organizers in Boston are running voter registration and education workshops in local high schools and working with hip-hop musicians to link youth culture with political involvement through concerts and forums.

  • Youth staff and interns are driving the work in Chicago, Denver, and Syracuse to educate and mobilize voters, connecting the November elections to issues such as military recruiting in public schools and the impact of U.S. foreign policy.

  • AFSC gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender youth programs are providing voter registration and education at youth events in school outreach programs in Seattle.

  • Asian American youth are supporting Asian voter education and registration in Portland, including the translation of "get-out-the-vote" materials into a number of different languages.

  • AFSC staff in Atlanta are working to increase voter empowerment at historically black universities and colleges throughout the South.

  • In Philadelphia, National Office staff are partnering with a number of national networks and coalitions, including the National Youth & Student Peace Coalition, to support a presence of youth and student voices for peace and justice at both of this summer's national political conventions.

The work that AFSC and others are doing with youth is critical. This key population represents more than the next generation of voters-they're the future of the peace and social justice movement.

* Source: The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement.

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