Public participation is a key component of a healthy democracy, which is why the Student PIRGs' New Voters Project worked to engage and turn out voters in 2008.
The New Voters Project used tried and true pavement pounding (we deployed 80 organizers to 100 campuses in 17 states) and new technology (we sent a quarter million text messages to young voters to remind them to vote) to register and turn new voters out to the polls on Nov. 4 and to pave the way for a lifelong commitment to voting.
We also used our organizing skills to boost turnout at early voting locations. We recruited 500 poll workers to help out at overburdened polling places and we raised the alarm when we discovered that 16 states lacked federally mandated protections against voter roll purges.
On Nov. 4, more people voted for president than ever before in our nation's history, and the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement estimates that 2.2 million more young people voted in 2008 than in the last presidential election in 2004.
If you helped out with our election work, thanks and congratulations. Boosting voter turnout, especially among first-time voters, is key to a healthy democracy in 2009 and for years to come.
