By Brendon Costello
Published: Wednesday, September 29, 2004
The Lock Haven University chapter of the Youth04 Voter Mobilization Initiative will be hosting a voter registration drive to educate student voters on Friday, October 1.
The event, entitled Political Spectacle, will be held on the front lawn of Russell Hall from 2 to 4 p.m. and all students and interested faculty are encouraged to attend. Available to students at the event will be absentee ballot applications, Pennsylvania State and National registration forms as well as a variety of literature to better prepare them for an educated decision on November 2.
"Civic responsibility is a notion lost to our generation," said Kendra Kozak, one of the organizers of Political Spectacle. "It is important that we engage our cohort and encourage them to educate themselves in order to be responsible citizens."
While the event maintains a non-partisan stance, Libertarian Congressional Candidate, Tom Martin will be in attendance at the event and will be speaking publicly at 3 o'clock.
Additionally, the event promoters extend an open invitation to all local, state and national candidates and incumbents. "We invite them to use the event as an open forum to discuss their candidacy and issues with students," said Kozak.
Youth04 is a national, non-profit organization which concentrates its power in the efforts of volunteers at the campus level. The organization lists "[the creation of] effective strategies to help young voters express their beliefs...in Election 2004," as one of its main goals.
Light refreshments will be served to encourage the socialization of voters and the group has secured sound equipment to create a livelier atmosphere.
Youth04 strives to mobilize young voters by utilizing the largely-untapped rally potential of internet web logs and rendezvous organizers such as meet-up.com
According to the founder of Youth04, David M. Anderson, there are an estimated 25 million 18- to 24-year-olds in America. "This is the most Internet-savvy but least-engaged segment of the voting public. Only about 32 percent of this group voted in the last presidential election, while about twice as many citizens between the ages of 65 and 74 vote."