Initiative Launched To Improve Low Turnout In Youth Voters: Parents Pledge To Vote With Kids So They’ll Vote When They Can
- 11/04/2012
New York, NY – VoteWithKids.org launched this weekend days from the Presidential election, aimed at increasing youth voter turnout for future elections, by getting parents to take their children to vote.
The website and public service announcement calls for parents to bring their children with them to their polling locations on Election Day.
A quote that inspired the project came from Professor Eric Plutzer of Pennsylvania State University, “The single most important factor in whether young people vote in their first or second eligible election is whether their parents vote,” featured in report by U.S. News and World Report.
This effort hopes to combat a trend towards low voter turnout in the United States, which is lower than a majority of other Democratic nations according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).
New York State voter turnout in 2010, where the project was founded, ranked in the bottom 10% of the United States, according to analysis by the United States Election Project at George Mason University.[ii]“
Ask many adults who vote regularly about their first memories of voting and you’ll get a get big smile followed by a nostalgic story of their first experience voting with their parents,” beamed project co-founder Benjamin Kallos,“
As it turns out, much like anything else, the best way to improve voter turnout is start at home,” continued Kallos, “Kids who grow up voting with parents, are more likely to continue voting as adults.”
Only 24% of New Yorkers ages 18-29 voted in 2010 midterm elections, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).
As noted in a study on voting behavior by Professor Eric Plutzer at Pennsylvania State University, children who learn to vote from their parents are more likely to develop a habit of voting when they become eligible to vote at age 18.
“With the under-representation of women in office, I want my daughter to grow up voting, especially in New York, where we will be choosing between to women for United States Senate,” said project co-founder Andrew Wagner, “I want my daughter to grow up to be someone who knows her personal power as a voter with the knowledge that she can do anything, whether it is becoming the next woman to represent New York in the United States Senate or even be President of the United States.”
Vote With Kids asks participants to sign an electronic pledge that they will vote with their children on Tuesday and explain to them why voting is important.Participants will receive links to helpful resources and reminders to vote and to share their vote with kids experience over social media.For more information, please visit: http://www.VoteWithKids.org.
Volunteers on the project include Michael Byrd, Daniel Levin, Saul Nadel, Nastascia Phillips, Joseph Strong.Andrew Wagner, is co-founder of Wide Angle Productions an Emmy award winning full-service production company that specializes in live events, broadcast, cable and web video.
Learn more at http://www.WideAngleProd.com.This is the most recent installment in a series of online civic engagement projects launched by Benjamin Kallos who is an online activist, lawyer, entrepreneur and former Chief of Staff for Assemblymember Jonathan Bing running to represent the Fifth Council District for the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island.
Previous projects included VoterSearch.org the first site to offer New Yorkers a free service to verify their voter registration and OpenLegislation.org which put legislative voting records online for the first time in New York State and City.Learn more at http://KallosForCouncil.com.
The website and public service announcement calls for parents to bring their children with them to their polling locations on Election Day.
A quote that inspired the project came from Professor Eric Plutzer of Pennsylvania State University, “The single most important factor in whether young people vote in their first or second eligible election is whether their parents vote,” featured in report by U.S. News and World Report.
This effort hopes to combat a trend towards low voter turnout in the United States, which is lower than a majority of other Democratic nations according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).
New York State voter turnout in 2010, where the project was founded, ranked in the bottom 10% of the United States, according to analysis by the United States Election Project at George Mason University.[ii]“
Ask many adults who vote regularly about their first memories of voting and you’ll get a get big smile followed by a nostalgic story of their first experience voting with their parents,” beamed project co-founder Benjamin Kallos,“
As it turns out, much like anything else, the best way to improve voter turnout is start at home,” continued Kallos, “Kids who grow up voting with parents, are more likely to continue voting as adults.”
Only 24% of New Yorkers ages 18-29 voted in 2010 midterm elections, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).
As noted in a study on voting behavior by Professor Eric Plutzer at Pennsylvania State University, children who learn to vote from their parents are more likely to develop a habit of voting when they become eligible to vote at age 18.
“With the under-representation of women in office, I want my daughter to grow up voting, especially in New York, where we will be choosing between to women for United States Senate,” said project co-founder Andrew Wagner, “I want my daughter to grow up to be someone who knows her personal power as a voter with the knowledge that she can do anything, whether it is becoming the next woman to represent New York in the United States Senate or even be President of the United States.”
Vote With Kids asks participants to sign an electronic pledge that they will vote with their children on Tuesday and explain to them why voting is important.Participants will receive links to helpful resources and reminders to vote and to share their vote with kids experience over social media.For more information, please visit: http://www.VoteWithKids.org.
Volunteers on the project include Michael Byrd, Daniel Levin, Saul Nadel, Nastascia Phillips, Joseph Strong.Andrew Wagner, is co-founder of Wide Angle Productions an Emmy award winning full-service production company that specializes in live events, broadcast, cable and web video.
Learn more at http://www.WideAngleProd.com.This is the most recent installment in a series of online civic engagement projects launched by Benjamin Kallos who is an online activist, lawyer, entrepreneur and former Chief of Staff for Assemblymember Jonathan Bing running to represent the Fifth Council District for the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island.
Previous projects included VoterSearch.org the first site to offer New Yorkers a free service to verify their voter registration and OpenLegislation.org which put legislative voting records online for the first time in New York State and City.Learn more at http://KallosForCouncil.com.
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