| Choice USA turns out thousands to polls |
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Elections has record young-voter turnout
Ka Leo O Hawaii, University of Hawaii With record numbers of young people casting ballots in Tuesday's election, Choice USA and a coalition of leading pro-choice student organizations acknowledged credit for an estimated 5,700 ballots in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Washington. Choice USA, Law Students for Choice and Medical Students for Choice have been working since June to identify, register, educate and turn out youth and students to the polls. "For too long, officials have ignored our issues, and turned the health of students into a political football," Erica Smiley, Choice USA's field director said. "Now, and for as long as we keep our numbers strong, they'll have to pay attention to young people." YouthVote reported that over 20.9 million voters on Tuesday were under age 30, an increase of 4.6 million over the previous four years. With the election hinging on only about 13,000 votes in several states, young people have been rightly called America's newest swing voters. Some 5,765 students registered to vote through local organizations trained by Choice USA, and over 99 percent of those contacted just before election day said they were voting or had already voted. The success of the get-out-the-vote campaign comes despite an attempt in Arizona by members of the media and local officials to block registrations. At the University of Arizona, a Fox News interviewer accused another student organization of illegally registering out of state voters, holding up registration efforts for three weeks while members worked to verify the law and clear their name. Registering college students to vote where they attend school is legal in Arizona, but the controversy chilled voter registration across the campus. Law Students for Choice trained election monitors to watch polls for evidence of fraud. While President Bush has made his position clear on reproductive health issues, standing firmly against sex education, public health programs and confidential reproductive health care for minors, organizers are quick to point out that their fight doesn't end here. "Besides the race for the presidency, there were hundreds of state candidates, members of Congress and local initiatives on the ballot," said Crystal Plati, Choice USA's executive director. "Young people have turned out in record numbers to say that our issues matter, our health matters, and our rights matter, and we can make the difference in an election." "Bush has never had a mandate from the American people to slash and burn young people's reproductive health care — this election made it even clearer. The way we can tie his hands for the next four years is to stay organized and challenge our legislators to support young people's health and rights, and oppose Bush's efforts to promote ignorance as our national health policy." Choice USA is immediately beginning a postcard campaign urging their members and supporters to contact their senators and demand support for the Putting Prevention First Act. The omnibus bill combines a new funding initiative and six existing bills into one complete legislative package that will expand access to preventive health care services and education programs that help reduce sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies. Original article - Ka Leo O Hawaii |
