The young, college age voter (CLINTON GROUP)

[Stuckinthebush]

Let me tell you a story about a die-hard college age Sanders supporter - my wonderful daughter.

I am sure I have mentioned her before here in the Clinton group. She is in college in South Carolina and has been active in starting and maintaining a Sanders club on her campus. She and I have been debating the merits of both Clinton and Sanders - she is staunchly pro-Bernie and I applaud that. I, however, am a Clinton supporter and have encouraged her to look at Hillary's record. She is certain that Sanders is the best representative for the Dems in November, and I have encouraged her to vote her conscience. We have had wonderful conversations.

Now, this die-hard Sanders supporter and I were talking at the end of January and I said, "So have you put in for your absentee ballot yet? "

D: "What? No. How do I do that?"

Me: "Well, you are registered. Right?"

D: "I don't know. Some people came around and registered on campus."

Me: "You should check that out on the State's website."

D: "Hmm. How do I do that?"

Me: "Go to the Secretary of State's website and check your registration."

A few days go by and I'm talking to her about life. She was telling me about her Stats class and Accounting. Also, how her Chinese class is great and she loves it but is studying all the time. Oh, and she has a thing in Charleston she has to go to in a few weeks. Plus there is a trip to the mountains with her sorority. Oh! And she told me about her boyfriend...nice guy. They are going to so-and-so restaurant on Friday....

Me: "Did you check your registration?"

D: "Crap. Wait. How do I do that?"

We walk through it and indeed she isn't registered. I walk her through how to register by mail. It's a process. She finally goes through it and gets her paperwork to the State of Alabama and registers. Around the second week of February she is registered and in the system.

Me: "Did you ask for your absentee ballot yet?"

D: "What?! My god this is difficult. Someone needs to make this easier. What do I do?"

Me: "Go to the website and print off the form. Send it in with a picture ID and they will send you an absentee ballot."

D: "OK."

A week goes by and we are moving toward the end of February. After some back and forth with her she finally gets her absentee ballot the last week of February.

Me: "Did you send in your absentee ballot."

D: "No. Not yet. When does it need to be in?"

Me: "The primary is March 1. You should send it in today."

D: " (Big sigh) Fine. I have to get another copy of my id though and send it. That'll take a minute. It's so much trouble!"

Me: "Yes, there are many hoops. But I'm proud of you for engaging in this process and meeting your civic duty to vote!"

She finally got her ballot in the day before the primary. All is well that ends well. The point here is that she is a common college student. They have so much going on in life and they are very young and quite distracted. Without me guiding her then she likely wouldn't have gotten the ballot in on time. That would be a shame. It's not that she isn't smart enough to figure it out but that she, like her peers, have never done this before and have other things going on that demand their attention.

Relying on young voters to get out the vote is an uphill battle for any campaign.

Just an observation.

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. You deserve thanks and real credit.

[Stuckinthebush]

13. Thanks, but I'm just like any parent here

I want them to vote and I know it is a new process for them. She is now ready for the GE and knows what she needs to do.

It's like teaching them to ride a bike or drive a car. Help them the first time and then they get better and better with experience!

[stonecutter357]

2. K&R!

[GusBob]

3. Sounds very familiar

We've daughters (3) that age. They have such active lifestyles that "detail stuff" gets lost in the wash. Our son just turned 18....you just reminded me I gotta get him registered.... lol

You're a good parent, I can tell

[Stuckinthebush]

14. LOL!

Yes, get him registered!

It's fun being a parent...even when they are young adults!

[Her Sister]

4. rallies are fun!

Voting not so much.

[redstatebluegirl]

5. That has been my experience in working with young people.

It takes a lot to get them to understand that they must be registered, and no, they can't just show up and vote (although I think you should be able to do that with an ID to prove where you are living). Some assume it is automatic. I worked a few elections a couple of years ago and we had over 40 in our little precinct that showed up thinking that. We also had students show up thinking they could vote for their candidates in Texas here in Oklahoma.

Bring back Civics!

[Her Sister]

6. HRC will make registration automatic at 18

[BlueCaliDem]

8. Like we already have now in California. :-)

[BlueCaliDem]

7. You deserve a thundering applause for all the help and guidance you've given your daughter,

StuckintheBush!

Thankfully, in California, it's so much easier. But then again, we have Democrats in the governor's mansion and a super-majority in our legislature, so voting in California isn't difficult at all. I did have to help my daughter with correcting her party affiliation when she signed one of those scam-Republican signature-thingies at (back then) Sav-On. She thought it was something else but it turned out that they had changed her registration to Republican! I got that fixed in time for the election.

We talk politics a lot. We get our absentee ballots usually a month before California holds their elections (this year it may be early May since our primary election is June 7th). We gather our group of 40 and sit down and discuss who we'll vote for and why.

They usually need my help with propositions (some Props are sold with confusing language, making you think you're voting for one thing when it's actually the other - like PropH8te, which was sold as if voting for it would be voting for same-sex marriage, while it was a vote against same-sex marriage), but otherwise, they're pretty darn informed! Still, getting all 40 together is like herding cats! They're all so busy with other things that I have to set up a date and remind them a week ahead, four days ahead, and then finally a day ahead via text. Then I offer a home-cooked meal and they come running! lol

[Stuckinthebush]

11. Thanks BCD!

I'm just a normal Dad who is excited by politics. I think my daughters got some of that from me (I hope!).

I wish it was easier in Alabama to vote but there is a reason it is so difficult. We know how the red states do it. They want fewer people to vote in Alabama. Especially students!

[BlueCaliDem]

20. You're very welcome, SitB. I'm just so happy you're working hard to ensure that your

darling girl is becoming more and more aware about how important elections are - especially in red States that tend to disenfranchise everyone and their uncle if they don't vote Republican. It's why it's so important we tilt the power of SCOTUS so that we can reinstate section 4 of the VRA. It's why students are having so much trouble now, and the core reason there is lower turnout amongst Democrats. The best thing to do now is to register for absentee - especially minorities - until section 4, or something like it, is reinstated.

[liberal N proud]

9. All this news about numbers at rallies does not translate into votes

Young potential voters lured to the rallies by cries for free college and free this and free that with no reality attached. That all sounds really great to a young person. But will they follow through?

We involved our daughters at a very young age, took them with us to vote and to the rallies. They have met Both Bill and Hillary and President Obama.

I even took them out canvassing during elections, they have volunteered on their own as well. We can talk politics. The oldest is 28 the younger 22. We reminded our youngest daughter who is at school, if she had requested her absentee ballot. She had taken care of it.

They both see voting as a responsibility.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

10. so easy here... register at the dmv, get ballots in the mail

As soon as everyone has filled them out, we drop them off at the library.

It should be that easy for everyone.

[Stuckinthebush]

12. Wouldn't that be nice?!

I wish it was that way throughout the US.

[fleabiscuit]

15. Someone may need to check me on this...

But seems to me the numbers I've seen posted after primary elections showing BS getting more of a percentage of young voters also shows that the total votes from them is a very low percentage of their population. They don't vote.

[Stuckinthebush]

18. They mean well

But they have so much going on. And they are young.

Plus spring break is coming up.

[Thinkingabout]

16. I was lucky to be raised in a home which was involved politically, registred to vote on time.

We discussed those running, talked about who we were voting but I was never told who to vote for but was told to vote every time the polls was open and they expected my participation. My parents are not here now but I still hear their voice saying to vote.

[Stuckinthebush]

17. Same with me

I've never missed an election because of that. I hope my daughters got the message as well.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

19. I know I didn't vote consistently when I was in college.

I just wasn't aware of all the voting deadlines and I had too much to worry about with my course load and trying to work through college. It is a pretty stressful time. This is good to bring up, because people always ask how to get the young voters. They pretty much need someone to walk them through these things because it is a new process for them and they are really busy.

[wildeyed]

21. Yep.

Why I hate doing GOTV with college age voters. Always two steps forward and one back. But once they finally do vote, I hope that it will be easier for them in the future, since a precedent was set.

Believe it or not, I was willing to walk Sanders supporters through the process, even though I support Clinton, because I thought educating young voters was more important than partisan primary concerns. But they were too busy pontificating about evil oligarchs or something, because no one took me up on the offer. Oh well, I tried.

[Tarheel_Dem]

22. Plus, it's not as sexy as yuge rallies with thousands of your peers. There's actual work involved.