Young Democrats

Welcome to the exciting NEW Southington Young Democrats!

This is your chance to get involved with American politics, learn how campaigns and governing work, meet candidates and elected officials, and work on a campaign (door knock, phone calls, stuff envelopes, talk with friends, serve coffee!!, run for office)

The November, 2016 elections are more than just Hillary vs Trump (although that is REALLY important! Many of us are actually appalled at the idea of Donald Trump running our great country!)—there are other state and national elections that will have a profound impact on YOUR future. Get involved in some way, big or small. Learn! Network with Young Democrats across our state! Grow!!

To join, please fill out an application (link below). This can be done on paper or electronically.

Send completed applications to:

Bob Brown
587 Burritt St, Plantsville, CT 06479
chopin7777@aol.com

-or-

Ross Hart
ross.hart22@gmail.com

 


Young Democrats Voting Guide

You live in a democracy and that means that you get a say in who runs your country, and because of this privilege you also get a say about how your country is run. It is very easy to be blasé about your right to vote and take a devil-may-care attitude but you shouldn’t brush this great honor off so quickly.

Top Reasons You Should Vote

1. Voting Is Worth the Effort

Sure registering can be a bit of a chore, and yes, you have to head down to a polling station on voting day to cast your vote which takes some time out of your day and may cost you a few bucks in gas, but whether you know it or not these are very small prices to pay for the right to vote.

When you live in a democracy you are born with the right to have a voice in government. In some countries people are literally dying to be able to cast a ballot and make a difference. As if dying to vote doesn’t say it all, read on to see why every eligible young person should get out and vote.

2. The Youth Vote Is Often Underestimated

Yes, it is true; the trend analysts who tell party spin doctors where to target their advertising dollars and public relations efforts traditionally overlook the youth market. Why? Because the sad reality is that election year after election year the percentage of eligible youth who actually register and vote is small when compared with other demographics.

This doesn’t mean the youth market isn’t a force, it just means that it isn’t a main motivator in the drafting of campaign platforms and pre-election advertising. So, like any self-respecting rebellious young person the natural thing to do is go against the grain and do the unexpected. Keep them on their toes, shock them into the 21st century and get out and vote!

3. The Hottest Issues Are Also Youth Issues

The war in Iraq (young soldiers are the ones dying), education funding, employment and job training programs, accessible health care, and reproductive rights are just a few of the current hot topics that directly impact the quality of your young life.

Think about the future and the world you will one day inherit and you can add environmental concerns, fossil fuel consumption, farming and livestock funding, and the list just gets longer.

Add any issues that are near and dear to your heart on a personal level and the list becomes a little overwhelming. If you don’t vote you effectively kiss off your ability to have any influence as to how these issues play out in your world. That’s just lame!

4. Democracy Only Works When You Work It

Yeah, yeah, yeah, this one is an oldie, but hey let’s face it, it’s also a goody. A government by the people, for the people just can’t work without the people. This is a simple fact. Like a car without an engine, or a computer without memory, a democracy without voters is just a shell.

While it is easy to think that one vote doesn’t make a difference the truth is that every vote counts. Remember the Gore v. Bush scandal in Florida? That was decided by a small number of votes.

You have to remember that as an individual your vote may seem to be little more than a whisper but when your vote is combined with the votes of others who share your views it becomes a voice. The more like-minded voters there are the louder that voice grows. So get out there and make the youth vote be heard.

5. Don’t Vote, Don’t Complain

If you don’t vote you really have no right to complain about government decisions that you don’t like no matter how much they actually suck. If there is one thing that is really annoying to us actual voters it is the endless ramblings on the bad political policy of a current government spewing from the mouths of eligible voters who never bothered to cast a ballot.

If you don’t vote it is like saying you don’t care how your country is run, so if you don’t care where do you get the idea that you can complain when something happens that you don’t like? If you don’t vote you really have no right complaining about anything the government does.

If you’re like most young people you like complaining and have it down to a fine art. Want the right to complain when the powers that be make a truly heinous decision? Then you must exercise your right to vote!

6. Vote Because You Can

Voting is a tremendous gift. Young people just like you in other countries actually fight and even die for this right; a right that so many youth in democratic nations take for granted. You should vote because you can, if you don’t you may one day wake up in a country where you can’t.

Enough said!

 


Myths About Student Voting

MYTH: You can’t register where you go to school. You must vote absentee from your home address.

FACT: You are legally allowed to vote wherever you are domiciled. What that means is that if you consider the town where you go to school to be your home, you can register to vote from that address.

MYTH: You can’t register to vote if you live in a dorm.

FACT: Any student living in a dorm is entitled to the same rights as any other student. To imply otherwise is illegal. If you receive mail in a Post Office box you can sign an affidavit (or, in some cases, get a letter from your college’s Residential Life office) asserting that you live at your dorm address.

MYTH: “You might lose your financial aid if you change where you are registered to vote”.

FACT: There are many different sources of financial aid. Only in state grants consider your residency status.

For more useful information pertaining to young voters, check out RockTheVote.com.

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