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Suzanne Stenson O'Brien, 612-331-7400

News! CCP to Support Young Voters' Registration in Michigan

Building on the historic young voter turnout in the 2004 elections, the Center for Civic Participation (CCP) has launched a nonpartisan project to register 18 to 29 year old voters in the 2006 election cycle. CCP, through its partner Michigan Voice, will register 15,000 young voters across the state, with special attention paid to young Arab Americans and young people of faith. The project is part of a nationwide, nonpartisan effort to register 350,000 voters in 2006, coordinated by Young Voter Strategies and funded by a $3 million grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts.

“2004 proved that if you ask them, they will vote,” said Suzanne Stenson O’Brien, Executive Director of CCP. “Massive outreach efforts in 2004 resulted in young voter turnout in Michigan increasing 16 percentage points over 2000 levels, and 11 points nationwide. This year, we’ll continue to build on increasing young voter turnout in Michigan. ”

In 2006, Michigan Voice—a coalition of labor, faith-based, environmental, civil rights and other groups—will support the registration of young voters and other historically underrepresented voters across the state, with a specific focus on Wayne County.

“Our goal in 2006 is to ensure that the voices of Michigan’s youngest voters—from all backgrounds—are heard on Election Day,” said Ryan Friedrichs, who staffs the Michigan effort. “Voter registration is often lower in underrepresented communities; our 2006 program will help mobilize young people in these communities to register to vote.”

The CCP project is part of Young Voter Strategies’ nationwide, nonpartisan effort to register 350,000 voters in 2006. In 2004, turnout among 18 to 24 year olds jumped 11 percentage points, nearly three times the overall electorate’s turnout increase, and more than 20 million 18 to 29 year olds voted. Experts contend that increased engagement of Generation Y and youth-oriented outreach in 2004 are the significant reasons behind this jump.

To build on 2004, the Young Voter Strategies project will register 350,000 18-29 year olds nationwide through innovative internet, email, and mobile phone strategies, streamlined peer-to-peer outreach, presentations by high school teachers and college professors, and creative outreach by musicians. Each group will focus on a specific subset of 18-29 year olds, such as single women, community college students, African-Americans, religious youth, and high school seniors.

Post-election, Young Voter Strategies and a team of researchers will analyze each project to create a “Young Voter Toolkit.” The toolkit will outline the nuts and bolts of involving young voters in elections and be available to key decision makers and opinion leaders as they build their strategies for the 2008 election.

For more information, contact Ryan Friedrichs, Michigan coordinator.