Sept. 22 is National Voter Registration Day, which the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation used to encourage voter registration among young Hoosiers.
On Tuesday, ICEF President Bill Moreau announced that the foundation’s One More Voice campaign will now focus exclusively on first-time eligible voters. The campaign's entire social media budget is now devoted to encouraging 18 and 19-year-olds to register to vote.
This is after a study from Tufts University found that Indiana has registered 54 percent fewer first-time eligible voters than at this time in 2016. That's the lowest percentage out of the 34 states surveyed.
Linda Hanson, co-president of the Indiana League of Women Voters, said that newly-eligible voters are an important bloc to register.
"“If they start now, then the records show that they will continue to be engaged citizens,” Hanson said. "So getting them aware, at this point, and knowing that their voice will count is crucial."
The Community Foundation of St. Joseph County has been promoting the campaign through local nonprofits and high schools. Foundation President Rose Meissner said that since the campaign is digital, the barriers presented by the pandemic could actually work in its favor.
“Because there’s so much online instruction going on, teachers could tell their high school seniors to take out their wallet... and register. It only takes about a minute,” Meissner said.
The deadline to register to vote in Indiana is Monday, Oct. 5.
Contact Gemma at gdicarlo@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @gemma_dicarlo
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