Educating Voters

“Last spring, Florida made some changes to its election law. Cloaked as technical tweaks, the new laws have the potential to swing the 2012 election.”

This NYT editorial points out that “one reason the United States has a low voter-participation rate is that most states are using 19th-century registration methods in the 21st century.”

“Almost 200 high school students have registered to vote in the last month, thanks to members of the League of Women Voters of Horry County, who have been visiting high schools to simplify registration and ensure that eligible seniors will be able to participate in the democratic process.”

“There are all kinds of nitty gritty decisions that have to be made before you put an election together,” said Linda Krefting, vice president of the League of Women Voters of Texas.”

“... In Miami-Dade, for example, voter registration plunged by 39 percent. The link between the law and the suspension of registration drives is clearly showing up in these findings.”

"Increasing informed voter turnout 20 percent by 2020 is one of the goals of the League of Women Voters of Chester County. Our league volunteers have been very busy this spring registering voters to help accomplish this goal."

"A big part of that drop-off is that volunteer groups have stopped doing third-party registration. Third-party registration is when organizations send people into the community carrying clipboards to sign up voters. ... The League of Women Voters used to do it. So did political parties and student groups. Now, hardly anyone does it."

 The New York Times reports that since a number of civic organizations, including the League of Women Voters, suspended their independent voter registration drives because of onerous restrictions imposed by the new Florida law, fewer new voters are being registered in comparison to 2008 numbers.
 

“On Thursday there was a little bit more than food available during the students’ lunch hour at South Florence High School. The League of Women Voters of the Florence Area was serving up registration forms to encourage students old enough to register to vote.”

“This eligibility allows 17-year-old [CT] students to vote in the April 24 and Aug. 14 primary elections, as long as they turn 18 by Nov. 6. With help from the Wilton League of Women Voters, Wilton's registrars will supervise a two-day voter registration ...”