Fact Sheet |
Content may be used to promote Kids Voting
Suggested Remarks
Kids Voting/Cumberland County 2000
I. OPENING
Thank you, ____________. It's a pleasure to be here.
(PAUSE)
How many of you voted in our last primary in Cumberland County?
The last local election?
The last national election?
(COUNT HANDS; IF MAJORITY VOTED GO TO #1; IF FEW HANDS, GO TO #2)
#1) It's good to see that number of hands. We're in rare company!
OR
#2) Well, I appreciate your honesty! And, unfortunately, you were not alone.
Voter turnout in Cumberland County in our last primary in May was 14 percent, believe
it or not.
Our last local election in the City of Fayetteville saw 33 percent of voters casting
ballots.
While our county's turnout for the last presidential election was pretty strong at
55 percent, voter turnout in our state and nation as a whole was pretty dismal.
This is a trend that is only worsening.
I'm here to tell you about Kids Voting, an exciting Cumberland County program with the
important mission to increase those numbers and create life-long voters.
And we're starting with the kids. But it's also affecting their parents in what has been
called the “trickle up effect.”
I'm going to give you a little background about Kids Voting and expand on our goals, tell
you where we are now, discuss some of our challenges and show how this all relates to you.
(IF APPLICABLE) We've also got a short video about our program that I'll show after my
remarks.
II. BACKGROUND
Kids Voting/Cumberland County is a private, not-for-profit, nonpartisan grassroots
organization dedicated to educating America's youth about the importance of becoming
informed voters to sustain democracy.
The program is targeted to kids from kindergarten through high school using standardized
curricula tailored to their respective age groups. The core curriculum is updated each
election to keep the topics current and relevant.
On Election Day, students go to the polls with parents or adults to cast actual ballots
that are tabulated, with results reported back to schools through the news media and other
channels.
Kids Voting began in the late ‘80s in Phoenix after some Arizona business leaders
visiting Costa Rica witnessed an astounding 90 percent voter turnout. The long tradition
of children accompanying their parents to the poll was credited.
When they returned to Arizona they founded Kids Voting. The program began expanding
nationally in 1992. Today, more than 40 states and the District of Columbia have brought
the program to their communities.
Kids Voting came to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community in 1992. And Wake and Guilford
county schools participated for the first time in the presidential election of 1996.
Through the generous founding sponsorship of Fayetteville Publishing and the Junior
League, other significant corporate support, a cadre of business and civic leaders and
hundreds of volunteers, Kids Voting participated in the election of 1998, our first
election.
In less than a year's time, Kids Voting Cumberland County organizers mounted the massive
challenge of:
Recruiting a board
Training teachers about Kids Voting
Printing, assembling and distributing curriculum guides
Writing and preparing that many teacher handbooks
Raising money
Informing and educating the public about the cause
Recruiting and training volunteers to staff precincts on Election Day
Designing and printing ballots, voting booths and other supplies
Planning Election Day logistics
Arranging for the tabulation of ballots by FTCC.
And then reporting these results back to the schools & news media
Whew! Just reading through that list makes me tired! The results of these massive –
even Herculean -- efforts resulted in a successful voting experience for more than 4000
Cumberland County school children.
And while general elections had been the organization's primary focus, the tremendous
success we experienced in 1998 prompted us to expand the program to all K-12
students in 2000.
As you can imagine, this is a logistical challenge with all of our various elections in
Cumberland County, including some school board seats and the City of Fayetteville.
III. NOW
Just by hearing a little about our background and what's involved in preparing Kids Voting
for an election, you have a good snapshot of what kinds of activities we're involved in
now as we prepare for the 2000 elections in November. We're in our third year, so things
are a little less hectic, but we're still quite busy as you can imagine.
On November 7, 2000, we'll be voting on:
President
Congress
Governor
State-wide Elections
County Commission
City Council
Right now we're in the process of recruiting and training volunteers, and I'll distribute
information later about ho w you can get involved.
IV. CHALLENGES
While certainly not in its infancy stage, Kids Voting is still what we might call a
toddler.
We're beyond crawling. We're up and walking. But we could still use some nurturing. We
could still use your help.
Beyond the sheer logistical challenges I've mentioned and the many, many process issues we
continually work through, I'll keep my list to the two major challenges that you could
help us with:
1. People
2. Resources
This is a very volunteer-intensive endeavor. And volunteer turnover is often high. We are
always looking for interested volunteers. We also need leaders and advocates.
We could use your individual input, and there are many opportunities for (NAME OF GROUP)
to get involved.
It goes without saying for any nonprofit that funding is a continual challenge. Kids
Voting costs about $1.50 per student on a national level. We rely on cash donations and
in-kind contributions from corporations, foundations and individuals.
Our operating budget in Cumberland County for this year is approximately $.99 per student.
With about 51,400 students in Cumberland County public schools and many more in private,
parochial, home and charter schools, Kids Voting's operating budget is well below the
national average of $1.50 per student.
Short of passing the hat, I'll just say that any and every little bit helps. Individual
contributions do make an impact.
V. WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU
Obviously it's in all of our best interests and that of our future generations to do
everything we can toward developing interested, enlightened adults who believe and
participate in the democratic process.
So I will assume here that I already have your buy-in as to why this program is important
to you as an American. Our primary goal is to increase voter turnout, both in future
generations and in the present adult population. And statistics on the national, state and
local levels tell us that we're having an impact.
But I also want to mention just a few benefits that may not have occurred to you.
One of the neatest things I've witnessed are the
morale-boosting benefits that Kids Voting brings to and among various groups.
I've seen it generate an amazing spirit of camaraderie among teachers, students, parents
and the community. Think what it could do for (NAME OF GROUP). It truly works to bind our
schools with our community.
It's also a great image builder for your group. Research conducted on a national level
following the '96 primary found an astonishing 94 percent said they felt favorable to very
favorable about Kids Voting. That kind of approval rating is almost unheard of.
Think about it. It's motherhood and apple pie. It's win-win. It's non-partisan and
all-inclusive. And it appeals to the pioneering spirit of community leaders in all sectors
– including business, education and government.
It's a great way to hit various markets, including youth, family and school. And it
provides you and/or your group with an upbeat opportunity to get involved in the
classroom, provide tutoring or help to staff voter precincts.
I think one of the most important benefits the program has is on the family. It encourages
dialogue about important issues. It's a family activity. Maybe we should call it Family
Voting!
(PAUSE)
Before I move onto questions, I'd like to close with a short video about Kids Voting.
SHOW VIDEO
Q&A
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