....forwarded by Back To Democracy Thank You?Eva for?your post. Here is NYS-specific voter registration info. Jeanne
The deadline for voter registration in NY State is October 10, 2008! Democracy works well in countries where voter participation is high. Elected officials more accurately represent and serve (at the pleasure of) their constituents who vote. When citizens do not vote, special interests and the money they bring into the political process fill the vacuum. The US has the lowest voter participation rate of any industrial nation at just 46%! (General election 2000, percentage of eligible, not registered voters.) ? Here are three things you can easily do for our Democracy! Forward this email to everyone you know in NY State. Register new young voters. It's simple! Do it at your job, your gym, your school. Make sure you yourself are registered in the new statewide voter database. (Do this even if you have voted in the same place for years! See detailed information on this very important issue at www.nyvv.org.) Kids, get your big brothers and sisters registered!!!! ? Even people younger than 18 or non-citizen legal residents can do voter registration. This is all you need to do: Get voter registration forms and keep them with you.? Either pick them up at the closest Board of Elections (BoE) office or download them in English or Spanish from the NYS Board of Elections website. Ask young New Yorkers if they are registered to vote. If not, have them fill out a registration form. Then get the completed forms to your county BoE. Registrations must be hand delivered or postmarked by October 10, 2008. Any county BoE can process all NY State voter registrations. If somebody needs an absentee ballot application, give them one or they can download one from the NY State BoE. Voters must send their absentee ballot application to the county BoE where they are registered to vote no later than October 28, 2008. (see info on absentee voting) Get the email addresses of the people you have registered. Fill in the online form and we will send them emails on November 3rd, and again on November 4th reminding them to go to the polls. If they don't have email get their phone number and call them yourself to make sure they vote.? ? Citizens voting outside NY can get registration and absentee voting information for other states here. The Brennan Center for Justice and the NY University School of Law has a good website on requirements and potential problems for student voters. ? You can also prepare Voter Registration Kits: Ask businesses, schools, doctor's offices if they will let you set up a voter registration kit. Pick up some voter registration forms from your county Board of Elections) or download them. ?Prepare two boxes, an open one for blank forms, a closed one with a slot for completed forms. Print out these fliers and post them with the boxes. On October 9 or 10, pick up the completed forms and take them to the Board of Elections or mail them postmarked October 10. Questions? send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ? For more info, go to www.BackToDemocracy.org To contact us, please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] . ? ? _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
