Campaign seeks to raise voter registration among youths

Just two weeks after the 2003 municipal elections might seem too early to start talking about voter awareness efforts for 2004. The newly elected candidates have not yet assumed their respective offices, and the final votes for some elections around the country have not even been tallied.

Beginning in January, however, a group known as "Declare Yourself" will begin a nationwide voter registration effort targeting people between the ages of 18 and 29. The group, spearheaded by television producer Norman Lear, is planning on spending more than $9 million on its campaign to register and help young people find a reason to vote.

The nonpartisan group will be traveling to 18 college campuses across the country, including a stop at Penn. It has launched a Web site that is designed to be a one-stop destination for any information and forms needed to register to vote anywhere in the country. In the last 50 days before the November general election, the group will begin a media blitz in a major get-out-the-vote effort.

"The overall goal is to turn the tide on low voter turnout for young people in the presidential election," Declare Yourself spokeswoman Christy Salcido said.

The group will begin its college tour on Jan. 26 at Keene State College in New Hampshire -- just one day before the presidential primary there -- and will be on the Penn campus on March 18.

It will be "sort of a festival-style atmosphere, with a stage where our four spoken word artists will perform several times," Salcido said. The project will also include a traveling exhibit of one of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence, and will offer on-the-spot voter registration and giveaways from sponsors including Yahoo! and Home Depot.

While the project has no specific goal for the amount of voters it hopes to register, its organizers are anticipating a significant increase in the 18- to 29-year-old vote in the 2004 general election.

The project's directors are certain that the right combination of message and medium will make a significant difference in youth voter turnout.

"We're going to have a huge online presence," Salcido said. "If we could get a million more young voters, that would be a great thing."

"You have to show voters that they have reasons to vote," said Wharton junior Karen Premo, vice president of community service of the Wharton Politics and Public Policy Club. "You have to spin it the right way."

As part of its media campaign, Declare Yourself will be printing thousands of voter education newspaper supplements in 153 cities across the country and will be producing public service announcements featuring famous TV and movie stars. Additionally, they will be releasing a short video featuring actors Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, entitled "Let's Go Voting!" aimed at making high school students more interested in casting their ballots when they are old enough.

Declare Yourself is the culmination of a three-year project originally designed to highlight the significance of the Declaration of Independence.

Lear purchased an original copy of the document in 2000 and created the interactive exhibit that has been traveling across the country on the "Declaration of Independence Road Trip."

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