Media Contacts
Diane E. Brown
Arizona PIRG Education Fund
Young voter turnout is vital to our democracy because:
• We need young people to vote to have a truly representative democracy – by 2015, millennials will make up a third of the electorate across the country.
• Studies show that citizens who vote when they are young are much more likely to vote when they are older.
The Arizona youth vote is on the rise:
• In Arizona, the 2004 turnout among 18-24 year olds increased 17 percentage points over the 2000 elections.
• Young people as a percentage of overall turnout in Arizona increased on both sides of the aisle in 2008 over previous levels (Democrats – 10% in 2008; 7% in 2004; Republicans – 12% in 2008; 10% in 2000 – Source ABC News).
The Arizona Student Vote Coalition has been a big part of that rise:
• Since 2004, members of the Arizona Student Vote Coalition, comprised of the Arizona Public Interest Research Group (Arizona PIRG), the Arizona Students’ Association and student governments from state universities, has registered 18-30 year olds and made personalized, peer-to-peer contacts to turn young people out to the polls.
• We have helped bring together a large, diverse coalition of partners – from the College Republicans and College Democrats to the Frats and Sororities.
• Endorsers of the campaign have included Secretary of State Brewer, The Arizona Diamondbacks and Wells Fargo.
This year, we will pair on the ground and online organizing to continue the momentum:
• We are running a massive text out the vote effort where students can text Student Vote to 41411 and receive back a message to forward to their friends.
• Through a new online widget at www.studentvote.org students can easily register to vote.
• We are also stopping students on their way to class, invading classrooms and storming the dorms to make sure that young voters in Arizona show up on Election Day.
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