16+Vote Media / Press Page

Talking Points

WHY

Every voter should have an opportunity to help shape the political landscape, locally, statewide, and nationally by BEING ELECTION READY!

16+Vote believes that, in the near future, teens will be as eager to register and vote as they are to get their driver’s license.

Approximately 50% of eligible young people – about 24 million youth, ages 18-29 voted in the 2016 general election – so 24 million didn’t.

58% of all registered voters actually voted – almost 100 million didn’t.

And there are millions of people who are eligible to register who aren’t.

51 million eligible US citizens are not registered to vote.
5 million eligible US citizens in Florida are not registered to vote.

We are starting with those 5 million to see what difference we can make.

WHAT

16+Vote is an approved Third-Party Voter Registration Organization (3PVRO) which is qualified to conduct VRs and handle the processing of the registration forms in compliance with state law.

As a #PVRO we are staunchly non-partisan.

We deal with the mechanics of voting:

  • How do I register?
  • Where?
  • How?
  • When?

We offer all needed tools for VR events: as needed we supply staff, all needed equipment and make it as easy as possible for schools or other organization to hold a VR event.

Our goal is to help 16 year olds and up register to vote every year, all year long, at school, in after-school clubs, and at public events.

Additionally, we are seeing opportunities to expand 16+Vote efforts in community centers, senior living facilities, and gatherings of people who may NOT have easy access to the internet.

HOW

We offer different services:

• We can go into any school, event or organization and conduct visible effective voter registration. We bring all the supplies and

handle the processing of the registration forms in compliance with regulations

  • We can train and equip student leaders to hold their own VR events – in school or elsewhere
  • Students can earn community service hours by assisting at our events registering voters.

WHEN

16+Vote is an approved Third-Party Voter Registration Organization (3PVRO) qualified to conduct Voter Registration and handle the processing of registration forms in compliance with Florida state law. As a #PVRO we are staunchly non-partisan.

16+Vote is also a 501(c)(3) status non-profit organization. All donations are tax deductible.

We started registering 16 year olds in December 2017, starting with MAST Academy where we registered 121 students in 4 hours.

Since then we have held or helped High School VR in other schools including Ferguson, Ransom, Miami Springs and are working with many more.

The Parkland shooting obviously raised the profile of the issue of 16 year old student registration and has increased our commitment to help:

  • We were the voter registration partner at the Parkland 17 exhibit in Wynwood sponsored by Dwyane Wade.
  • We were one of the VR partners at the Parkland March and will continue to be a resource to them in future VR endeavors.

SUMMARY

We are committed to assist people of all ages to register to vote. Because YOUR VOICE IS YOUR VOTE! And it’s important to SPEAK UP!

Every voter should have an opportunity to help shape the political landscape, locally, statewide, and nationally by BEING ELECTION READY!