Voter Registration @ JCC

Where: Jarvis Christian College

Who: Hosted by the Theta Alpha Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.

Time:

Voting is the cornerstone of a democracy but sadly far too few people vote. There remains wide gaps between those who do vote which undermines representative democracy. For the past three decades voters have been disproportionately of higher income, older or more partisan in their interests. Parallel to participation gaps are widening gaps in wealth, reduced opportunity for youth and frustration with the polarization in politics. How would our world be different if everyone participated?

Much of this gap is due to communities left uninformed about elections.

There are large gaps in who gets contacted in an election campaign. Millions of Americans, especially those served by the nonprofit sector, report not being reached by traditional campaign tactics like a phone bank. Not only so, voter participation is a learned activity.

A fact that stands out in the literature is the powerful influence of families in voter and civic participation. As service providers and advocates, we can be too. We as college voters need to understand the impact of elections on the issues we care about. It’s also true that communities such as ours have been traditionally underrepresented in the democratic process and often face significant barriers to voting, both discriminatory and inadvertent. This is why registration is so important. Remember: A voteless people is a hopeless people.