.png)
Diverse Education, Dynahlee Padilla:
Nonprofit organizations such as Rock The Vote, The Voter Participation Center, the Student Learn Students Vote Coalition (SLSV) and the Campus Vote Project are among the many efforts to reach the youth in masses as well.
“There’s a big turnout gap between younger people and older people and that gap needs to close in order for young people to finally exert the influence they should have over our elections,” said Fraga.
The Latinx vote, for instance, is a very young population and there may be many first-time voters, Caldera said. One of the concerns is that “there are more steps that you have to take for an absentee ballot than in-person, and potentially,” such steps can be taken incorrectly, leading to “a spoiled ballot that isn’t counted. There’s a higher burden in terms of the education that has to happen in order to have people participate effectively,” Caldera said.
To reach young Latinx, Asian American and Black student voters, both Caldera and Fraga agreed: issues that concern young people should be discussed by campaigns — climate change, immigration, college debt and more. Moreover, these issues and voting efforts need to be talked about at community colleges, noted Fraga.
Read the full article here.