Young Voter Alliance
The election cycle seems to be in full swing. It was brought to my attention last night that a few people I know (and some I don’t) are working together on a new project called Young Voter Alliance.
Young Voter Alliance seems to be a partisan collaboration effort aimed at reaching progressive young voters in 5 key battleground states. Young voters are being defined as 18-35 years old. I think this is a really good effort for a couple of reasons.
- The scope of the effort is designed in a way to have the greatest impact on the presidential election. Young people do not vote, but they have only been “not-voting” for a few years, so they are easier to convert to new voters than older citizens who have been not-voting for a longer time.
- Focusing on battleground states means every vote mobilized is a vote that counts. Who cares if we can get more democrats to vote in democratic strongholds, and mobilizing in republican strongholds sets you up for easy defeat. I also have a hunch that the last election taught many young people that their vote really doesn’t count. It is glaringly apparent that the only votes that count are those that determine the electoral college votes. Young people in non-battleground states may have reinforced apathy, where as the argument to vote is much stronger in swing states.
It looks like I may get an opportunity to work with some old friends on this project, and that is doubly cool since the project looks like it might actually deliver some results. How cool!
-Jackson
