The Cape Codder Newspaper

As 'Kids Vote,' so might we

On the Cape / By Glenn Ritt
Friday, January 30, 2004

Stalwart Democrats filed into town halls, police stations and council on aging buildings last Saturday, making up for their sparse numbers with clear passion for the fight ahead.

Still, it was impossible to ignore the paucity of caucus goers as these Cape partisans - sporting buttons for Kerry, Clark, Edwards and Dean - initiated their earnest battle for the White House by vying for a delegate slot at their state party convention in Amherst.

Sure, it was a cold morning, but what other activities were competing at 10 a.m. for the attention of Democrats, especially on a weekend sandwiched by the presidential primary dramas of Iowa and New Hampshire?

This challenging - some would say sorry - situation made a different caucus elsewhere in Brewster all the more significant. Two volunteers, Susan Marcus and Sheila Davidson - both retired women relatively new to Cape Cod - were sitting around a kitchen table plotting a political strategy to remedy this chronic no-show Election Day performance.

And not just for 2004, but for many elections beyond.

Their targets were not the over-65 crowd that seemed to populate most of Saturday's caucuses. (A delegate seeker under 40 years of age was a curiosity.) Instead, their game plan focused on kids and their parents.

But, kids can't vote, right?

Not if you ask these volunteer organizers of Kids Voting.

Caucus goers may be hard to come by, but Kids Voting is bringing more kids to the polls every election season. Which is pretty impressive if you consider that the kids are being accompanied by their parents - whose votes actually do make a difference as to whom will be our future president.

And that is the brilliance of this grassroots exercise in democracy, which is growing from one town to the other across the entire Cape.

Here's the game plan:
Equip hundreds of teachers from elementary through high school with special curricula on the election process. Engage students from September through Election Day. Have them share their knowledge at home. Create a special polling place for kids - side by side with the real ballot boxes. And then make sure their parents join them at the voting booth.
Suddenly, turnout not only increases, but especially on Cape Cod, so do the number of younger voters who might otherwise skip the polls because of work or responsibilities at home or, yes, apathy.

Kids Voting has been picking up steam in recent years, along with some impressive publicity on Election Day. Why not, considering how visually appealing those news shots are of third-graders lined up at town hall waiting to cast their ballots hand in hand with proud parents.

But the true secret to Kids Voting's success begins not at the end of the fall, but in the middle of the previous winter when volunteers such as the Brewster women begin elaborate and potentially expensive campaigns that must travel from one school district to another.

It costs about $25,000 to make Kids Voting Election Day work. There are the thousands of thick curricula to be printed and distributed to hundreds of teachers. There is the recruitment of hundreds of volunteers to tend the booths. There is the publicity and marketing material that must be developed and circulated. There is training and teaching; setup and cleanup.

Always with one thing in mind: If a young Cape Codder can be touched by democracy now, then he or she may develop an ethic of civic participation that not only infects their parents, but also supports their voting habit for decades to come.

Civic engagement may not quite rank up there with protecting open space or ensuring clean air and water on Cape Cod. But consider this: How engaged will a Cape Codder be on these issues if he or she is not even motivated enough to pull a lever once a year?

That's why the recently released Cape Cod Sustainability Indicators report included voting as one of its 15 measurements of our quality of life.

"Voting expresses our shared commitment to public values and goals that shape our lives and communities. As voter participation declines, fewer people influence local decision-making. It signals a decline in how vested we are as citizens of our community, state and nation, and how willing we are to commit to building a common future," the report warned.

Rightfully so.

Although voter eligibility and registration have risen in recent years, voter participation in town elections has decreased dramatically since 1990.

While participation in individual town elections varies depending on local issues and races, the overall voting rate is plummeting. The average turnout in Barnstable County town elections fell from 39.4 percent in 1990 to 22.2 percent in 2002.

So, as we watch the presidential primaries unfold on cable networks and as President Bush amasses more than $100 million to win re-election against a senator or former governor or ex-general, we should consider the power of Kids Voting.

Consider too how to get involved. It may be a contribution to ensure that their Kids Voting curricula can be printed and distributed. It may be sweat equity as a volunteer.

But don't consider it charity, please.

As the kids themselves will learn:
Voting elects our representatives who make decisions that affect our economic interests in areas such as taxes, cost of education, cost of municipal expenditures, job growth, health care and economic development.

Voting decreases the possibility that decisions about zoning, land use, water, air, forests, wetlands, open space and hazardous materials will be made by a small number of decision-makers with narrow, vested interests.

Voting is often used as a measurement of the civic health of a community. It is at the heart of participatory democracy, as it allows each voter to have a voice in key issues that affect the community. It is a fundamental right and responsibility.

Pretty impressive curricula.