Make It Happen!

The Rhode Island General Assembly, for the fourth consecutive year, overwhelmingly passed youth voter registration legislation. The bill would to allow sixteen and seventeen year old citizens the option to preregister as voters so that they are automatically placed on the voting rolls the election following their eighteenth birthday. Sponsored by Representative Edwin Pacheco in the House and Senators Perry, Sosnowski, Miller, DeVall and Doyle in Senate, this legislation would make the voter registration process simpler and more transparent and, most importantly, would foster greater involvement among young people in our political process. And, for the fourth year in a row, Governor Carcieri vetoed the bill, claiming that allowing young people to make an early decision to register their constitutional right to vote was "counter-intuitive and counter-productive."

The Rhode Island Young Democrats support this commonsense legislation. We applaud the sponsors and all other supporters of the bill for continuing to lead the fight to make it as easy as possible for all eligible Rhode Islanders to assume their civic responsibility and exercise the franchise. We urge the General Assembly to override the Governor's veto and enact this law. In support of their efforts, we have organized the Make It Happen campaign. From now until the General Assembly takes up the veto override legislation, we will undertake a vigorous grassroots campaign in support of the legislation. We will undertake a targeted e-campaign using a number of alternative digital means of communication, conduct a traditional postcard campaign and do some old-fashioned neighborhood canvassing.

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Nonprofits & Activism

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• RIYD