YouthSpeaksOut! is a 60 minute monthly public affairs program hosted by high school students in Mendocino County, California. Produced by Dan Roberts
Today our topic is Voting- Why Should Youth Care? This coming Tuesday is midterm election day. Voters will choose a Governor, a Congressperson, a number of Propositions, and here in the Third District, a Supervisor. The media has been drenched with debates and advertisements for the candidates and propositions. In our area, there are hundreds of signs for Holly Madrigal and Tom Woodhouse, the candidates for Supervisor. In 1971 the laws were changed to allow 18 year olds to vote. This created a great deal of excitement and controversy. Would youth have enough political awareness to make informed choices? Would youth take the time to actually vote? For a number of years the youth voting turnout was strong- but times have changed. In the primary election this past June in California, only 3.7% of 18-24 year olds voted. At the same time 40% of voters over 65 cast ballots. Based on statistics for the past 10 years, this upcoming election will see only 18% of eligible 18-24 year olds vote. In the studio today we have the two candidates for Third District Supervisor, Holly Madrigal and Tom Woodhouse. Thank you for coming. We are not here to have another political debate. Instead we would like to ask our guests about youth and voting. We are hoping to hear why youth should take their voting rights seriously, and how we can become informed citizens. How can youth become involved in affecting society? Is democracy more than a theory in our culture? We have prepared questions for our guests. Some of them were recorded during our Government class this week at Laytonville High School, where our producer, Dan Roberts, made a presentation on youth and voting. We are going to ask Tom and Holly to each respond to our questions, and be relatively brief in their answers. We are not looking for campaign promises, we are hoping for ideas that will inspire young people to become involved in shaping the society that we are inheriting. Let s begin with a basic question- How old were you when you first voted, and how did it make you feel? Have you worked on other political campaigns? Why should I vote? How are votes counted? Why was there such a long delay in reporting the mail-in ballots last election? Do you think that will happen again in this election? How would you modify our electoral procedure? Why is voting on one work day? Should it be on two days? Weekend? Local versus national issues Why is so much money invested in campaigns? $30 million is being spent in a single senatorial race this election- for a job that pays $200,00 per year- what is wrong with this picture? Should there be strict limits on spending? Should there be more campaign finance reform? Should advertising be limited to a short while before the election? Attack ads drive many people away from the polls- what is your opinion of those kind of campaigns? Most of the propositions are very difficult to understand- what could be done to really clarify the issues? What makes people become politicians? Why are most politicians old, white, and male?
Is there anything you would like to add to the discussion of youth and voting that we failed to ask?
2. DEVON- Would you be on the board of supervisors if you didn t get paid for it? 3. HAYLEY- Are there any aspects of your campaign that you regret? 4. DEVON- Do you think that political awareness needs to be raised in people who are 18 or just turning 18? 5. JAYDEN- What are the problems with the voting system in America? 6. HAYLEY- If someone gave you a million dollars to spend however you d like to spend it, how much would be going toward yourself, and how much would be going toward the community? Where would your priorities lay if you got that amount of money? 7. AARON- How would you improve voter input among youth?
Thank you so much Holly Madrigal and Tom Woodhouse for joining us on YouthSpeaksOut! today. We wish you both luck in Tuesday s election, and we hope that everyone in the listening audience will participate in the democratic process by voting. We will be back in a few minutes.
**********PLAY MUSIC while Holly and Tom leave************************
You are listening to YouthSpeaksOut! and I am your host Jordan and (Jessie says I am your host Jessie ) and we are both students at Laytonville High School. We will spend a few minutes talking about what Holly and Tom said about voting, youth, and the electoral process. Then we will ask you to call in and join the discussion at 456-9991. We host this program to increase understanding between all the age groups in our community, and all the different perspectives. Jessie, did any of their answers surprise you? Jordan, how are elections run in Germany?
***********Discuss the interview for 5-15 minutes***********************
We re going to open the phone lines now. The phone number is 707 456-9991. Everyone is welcome to call, and we d especially like to encourage the youth, their parents, teachers, and concerned friends in the listening audience. Please call in if you have questions or insights youth, voting, and the electoral process. When did you first vote and how did it make you feel? Have you continued to vote in every election? Were you shocked to hear that fewer than 4% of California 18-24 year olds voted in the last election? Do you encourage other people to vote? Do you think our electoral system should be modified? Would you prefer voting for 2 days, say on Saturday and Sunday, rather than on a busy work day? Should all voting be done by mail-in ballots? Do you trust the results from voting machines? How did you feel about the outcome of the 2000 Presidential election? Would like like to see limits on the length of time that campaigns are run? Would you like to see strict restrictions on advertising spending? When you read the propositions do you clearly understand what they mean? Do you get frustrated when you see ads contradicting each other? Please call in and be part of this conversation. The phone number is 707 456-9991.
![<?php echo $config['site_title']; ?>](/static/images/rp-navimg.gif)
![Support the <?php echo $config['site_title']; ?>](/static/images/support.png)
