Hello, Members and Friends of WHRO!

As we approach the elections in November, WHRO’s Center for Regional Citizenship has launched a campaign to engage citizens in more informed and active political participation, with a particular focus on youth. 

According to research conducted by CIRCLE (the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, a non-partisan organization promoting research on the civic and political engagement of Americans between the ages of 15 and 25), of the four active generations today – Matures, Baby Boomers, GenX and Millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000) – Millennials have the lowest voter registration rates, voting rates and political volunteerism rates.  They contact their public officials at lower rates than their elders, follow public affairs less and pay attention to news at lower rates.  In the last Presidential election, only 47% of citizens 18–24 years old voted, compared with 66% of citizens age 25 and older.

We’re launching the Be There, Be Counted initiative in hopes of reversing some of those statistics.  The initiative includes betherebecounted.org, a robust and interactive website, a Youth Voter Coalition and a Youth Video Competition.  The website offers up-to-date election information, an interactive election map from NPR and The NewsHour, a national 'Select-A-Candidate' quiz, a Capital News Connection ‘Ask Your Lawmaker’ tool and much, much more.  Both PBS and NPR will continue to develop tools, including educational resources for teachers, and the website will be frequently updated.

The Youth Voter Coalition is a nonpartisan, inclusive voter mobilization campaign for young adults (aged 18–25). The Coalition supports voter registration, education and mobilization among young voters across Hampton Roads.

The Video Competition is open to every young person in Hampton Roads between the ages of 14 and 25.  Their topic is “Why do Elections ’08 matter? What’s at stake? What issues are important? What role should young people play?”   The contest is designed to capture the youth perspective on political engagement.  We’re excited to see the results, and I look forward to reporting those to you.

While we’re focusing on young people, Be There, Be Counted is for everyone!  I hope you’ll visit betherebecounted.org often for local, state and national updates on the November elections – and to find out more about youth participation in Elections ’08.

Bert Schmidt

Bert can be contacted at bert.schmidt@whro.org or 757.889.9410