For Immediate Release
Contact:
Vanessa Wright
vanessa@studentpirgs.org
(707) 318-117
Tallahassee, FL – According to preliminary results provided by local elections officials, several Florida State University campus precincts showed significant increases in turnout over the previous national election. Precinct 1507, for instance, showed a 28.6 percent increase, precinct 2503 showed a 8.2 percent increase and Precinct 2506 showed a 7.8 percent increase over 2008.
“Despite the dire predictions of low youth turnout today, young people once again showed that when voter mobilization efforts pay attention to them, they show up on Election day,” said Lucy Amaya Florida PIRG New Voters Project Campaign Coordinator and Senior at the Florida University.
Amaya and a team of dozens of student leaders of Florida PIRG’s New Voters Project at the Florida State University of peer-headed an intensive voter mobilization drive on campus over the past several week to help register and urge students to the polls on Election Day.
Using scientifically-proven voter outreach and mobilization techniques such as peer-to-peer phonebanks and canvasses, text message outreach and classroom announcements, the campaign make more than 15,000 vote reminders in the days leading up to the election.
Creative events such as have a sucker don’t be one and the dance democracy also helped to build buzz on campus and reach thousands more potential voters.
“The best people to urge a young person to the poll is another young person,’ said Amaya ‘Our campaign shows definitively that if you pay attention to young voters, they will pay attention to you.’
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