Archive: Around Town

Last year a lot of young people got excited about the presidential election.  Hoping to capitalize on that momentum the Tompkins County League of Women Voters is encouraging parents to take their kids with them when they vote with a new program called 'Take Me To Vote.' 

"Kids are so influenced by their teachers and parents that if they see all these people voting and see them as thinking it is an important part of their life that really means something," says League of Women Voters member Sue Henninger.  "Then they're more likely to vote as adults because they'll have that in their mind."

Henninger and Kathleen Yen approached all the fifth grade teachers in the county to try to get them to sign onto the program -- most did.  Teachers get packets that include a suggested time line for teachers, colored pages, parent information sheet.  They can make as much or as little of the program as they have time for.  Minimally they talk to their classes about voting, and hand out materials for the kids to bring home.  When a kid goes to a polling place he or she gets a sticker saying they have been there, and the election inspectors sign them off as having come.  They say they would also like to do something after the election to acknowledge the schools and classes that participated.

"It's a very simple process which we're hoping will appeal to teachers, because they're so busy," Henninger  says.  "All they have to do, really, is talk to the kids about it and pass out the form.  Then the kids take it to the polls.  The poll workers sign it, saying that they did it.  They get their button and they go back to school."

For teachers that want to go farther, Yen and Henninger are offering League members to act as 'election inspectors' at mock registrations or mock elections.  Yen says the pair targeted fifth grade because that level studies the democratic process in social studies class, though she hopes that parents of students of all ages will bring their kids to vote.  The program strives to get information to families about important dates and basics of voting.  And to show kids that voting is an important part of their lives in a real and immediate way.

"I remember last year with the big presidential election," says Henninger.  "We always try to be the first ones there, but we never are.  We got there about three after six and the line was already ouit the door.  My kids were thrilled by the whole experience.  'Look at all these people here and it's only six o'clock in the morning!'  That's the kind of excitement and personal involvement we want to convey.  It really is important to be part of the process, and it does matter.  You need to take it seriously because we're very lucky in this country to be able to choose."

Yen and Henninger got the idea at the New York State League of Women Voters convention in Syracuse last Spring when they learned about youth programs in other counties.


"This is the first time we've tried it in Tompkins County, so we're piloting it to encourage everybody to take their kids to vote," Yen says.  "If you set a good example, kids learn by watching and copying what you do.  That's how I got started. I would go with my parents to vote when I was a kid.  It was really exciting.  When I got older I would go from house to house to babysit so people could vote."

'Take Me To Vote' fits the League of Women Voters' non-partisan, educational mission.  Yen encourages kids and adults to go to the state organization's Web site where there are free downloads, a voter guide seris, and frequently asked questions.

"What attracted me to the League was that it was non-partisan," she says.  "It was the education aspect of it that appealed in that it doesn't support candidates.  It doesn't support political parties.  It is truly non-partisan."

Henninger adds that the new voting machines may appeal to young people because they have a more modern, electronic, technological feel that the older lever machines don't have.  She recommends that parents follow up after the election to reinforce the message that voting matters.

"When they vote for someone that leads to name recognition where they might follow them longer in the news afterward.  And after that to see whether your candidates actually follow up on their campaign promises.  That may be something kids and families are interested in doing together."

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