Our society is in the hands of the next generation, but we don’t take advantage of it. So how can we enhance participation in this year’s election? Based on data from the last election, less than half of young, eligible voters turned out to the polls. This year, we at Georgia PIRG want to raise that percentage to over half. To do this, we aim to reach out to everyone we know and give them guidance on the voting process.

We need to not only educate our community but actually register them to vote. Registering to vote is the first step to making change, but it can be intimidating for some. As soon as I turned 18, I knew I needed to register to vote. Even with this knowledge, I kept putting it off because I did not feel ready. Eventually, I registered and wondered why I was putting it off in the first place. I realized I was more than ready to become a registered voter, and understood that I was taking a really big step by doing so. I experienced the confusion that many of my peers are feeling first hand, so I understand how overwhelming the process might feel. 

As I previously mentioned, Georgia PIRG is aiming to spread the importance of taking that leap and registering to vote. We don’t have much time as November 3rd, the General Election, is only a few weeks away! While this seems like it is right around the corner, the voter registration deadline in Georgia is October 5. With the deadline being so close, we are utilizing our simple, online voter registration tool, StudentVote.org, to help register young people across the country. This site helps to guide citizens through the registration process. It also gives voting resources and ways to get involved to help raise that youth vote!

Arianna Henderson

Georgia PIRG (Public Interest Research Group)

Atlanta