|
Date: |
|
|
Meeting location: |
Cross Building, Rm 536 |
|
Notes compiled by: |
Kerry Salvo, Tamara Heligman |
|
Chair(s) / Facilitator(s): |
Kerry Salvo, Tamara Heligman |
|
Members present: |
Kerry Salvo, Tamara Heligman, Cara Anderman, Ian Engdahl, Jen Thompson, Cory True, Deb Bicknell (part), Doug Dunbar (part), Melissa from Elections Division (part) |
|
Agenda
Item(s): |
Major
Points of Discussion: |
|
§ Updates o
LYAC o
Website o
KIDS Conference |
§ LYAC has a new staff person, Phil McCarthy. LYAC’s funding for next year comes entirely from the Task Force. § The website is being worked on. Once most edits are complete, Kerry will send a link to YVL members so they can preview the site. §
Need better LYAC photos and to find out if
there members signed photo releases—Kerry contacted § Brainstormed tagline for Youth Section picture on website. And the winner is…Act Up, Learn More: YOUth Make a Difference. § KIDS Consortium conference went well. Robert Putnam is an inspiring speaker. |
|
§
Doug Dunbar: Overview of the 17 year old vote
and primary process and Q&A |
§ The Secretary of State’s Office has a variety of programs in existence around voting and involvement. (see Doug’s green handout) § There are 2 new laws that will take effect in 2006: Eligible 17 year-olds will be able to participate in caucuses AND vote in primaries. (see Doug’s 2 white handouts) You are eligible if you meet all of the general requirements and are 17, but will turn 18 by the time of the general election. 17 year-olds CANNOT vote on ballot questions, state referenda, etc. § All eligible 17 year-olds can register to vote and municipalities are urged to hold their cards and add them to the list when they turn 18. §
Primaries in § Eligible 17 year-olds can also be election clerks in the town they live in. § There are many opportunities to involve 17 year-olds in the elections process. Anyone interested should contact the Secretary of State’s office. §
§
The Secretary of State’s Office sends a
mailing to all high school principals and other targeted individuals with
information on its offices programs and resources each Aug/Sept. Principals can then request materials and
reply with another contact person to be the “Coordinator” for the school—Many, but not all § There are always primaries, even if there aren’t multiple candidates since there is always a “write in” option. § Important races in 2006 will be for Governor and for the seat Sen. Olympia Snowe currently holds. §
In § You must be enrolled in a party to participate in a caucus/primary… But, if unenrolled you can enroll in a party on the day of the primary—you have to stay in a party for at least 3 months before changing and if you change parties you must do so at least 15 days prior to the election. § Secretary of State’s office will begin the marketing of the new laws and the primary process next January. They will do op-eds, press releases, etc. § Doug Dunbar is willing to work in partnership with us, to review materials we draft, etc. § The Secretary of State’s office is willing to work with our committee to get the word out about the law. If we don’t prepare something for the Aug/Sept mailing in time (which we do not think we will do), since it seems like it is already being planned, the office can add information we provide them with to its website and send out emails to the people on its lists. § Things that go out should be approved by Secretary of State’s office so that we know all our information is correct. |
|
§ Discussion of Next Steps and Strategies |
§ What can we do with the youth vote campaign? o Give Secretary of State’s office information on voting, LYAC, and other things to include in the mailing. o Add a link to SOS on our website. o Use the new law and the primaries as a subject for our discussion forum. o Marketing campaign. o Provide names of teachers and students for mailings to be sent to. o Offer suggestions of other places for the Secretary of State’s office to tap into, i.e. student government o Teach people about the law, provide a sheet of talking points for people to use—Doug will send us a version of this we can modify. o Prepare materials for email alerts and other electronic postings. o Partnering with the SOS office on press events, op-ed publications, etc. o Maybe LYAC and SOS office can connect to form some sort of partnership to help with the youth vote campaign and LYAC’s work. o Utilize the MYAN conference (Oct 27-28)/network? § There is agreement by the group that we want to take a large role in promoting the 17 year-old youth vote. We will dedicate the next meeting to brainstorming more concrete ways to carry out this goal. § Other YVL goals? o Probably can only have 2-3 realistic goals for the next year… § Youth Vote Campaign § Some type of survey… how will it produce lasting data or information?—Maybe connect with other subcommittees to get results posted on “For Educators” and “For Communities” sections. § Something with student representation on school boards survey—some type of follow-up? o We will use our next meeting to decide more concretely on where we’re going. § YVL subcommittee would like an update on what the other subcommittees are doing and how our work fits into the larger scope of the Task Force project. |
|
§ New Membership |
§ Cory and Cara are leaving us. We need to recruit new members. Maybe MYAN members or participants in A Rising Tide Programs. We will decide our goals as a group and then recruit new members in the fall. Further discussion of this is tabled to the next meeting. |
|
Next
Steps: |
|
|
Develop talking points page on youth vote laws
and procedures |
Doug to send it to Tamara |
|
Think of questions about voting process and email
them to Kerry and/or research the answer |
All |
|
Send out website address once edits are complete |
Kerry |
|
Try to find better LYAC photos for website and
find out if photo releases were signed |
Kerry, Cory, Jenn |
|
Next Meeting Date/Time: |
|
|
Location: |
TBD |
|
Items for Next Meeting Agenda: |
17
year old vote YVL
long-term goals New
members Update
on work of other subcommittees |