'Bring Your Child to Vote' Campaign Launches
'Bring Your Child to Vote' Campaign Launches
Community leaders encourage parents to teach their children about voting.
Lawmakers and community organizations have come up with a plan to increase voter turnout in New York.
The so-called "Bring Your Child to Vote" campaign believes children who see their parents vote will be more likely to go to the polls when they're older. Assemblyman Marcos Crespo said it's about setting a good example.
"It's really just awareness that we want to put out there," Crespo said. "And hopefully it gets spread and said and repeated in whatever way folks feel comfortable with. We think it's a very subtle message but a very important one as well."
Only 32% of New York State’s registered voters voted in 2010, and 18 to 24-year-olds have the lowest rate of voter registration in the state. But Crespo believes that if children learn the importance of voting early on, they're more likely to vote when they're older.
"We know this is a long-term initiative," he said. "We know that this is something that's going to take some time. But we need to begin today. We can't continue to wait for a miracle to happen. We have to act as a community and we believe this is one way to do that."
