College Democrats Plan Young Voters Day

Kate Michelman speaks to the Gettysburg College Democrats in September (Photo Mary Frasier/The Gettysburgian)

Kate Michelman speaks to the Gettysburg College Democrats in September (File photo)

By Benjamin Pontz, Managing News Editor

Only 17 percent of millennials voted in the last midterm election. Accordingly, the Gettysburg College Democrats plan to register young voters and hear from Democratic officials as part of its first annual Young Voters Day on Saturday from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Lieutenant Governor Candidate John Fetterman, Mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, Former Director of NARAL Pro-Choice America Kate Michelman, who spoke at Gettysburg in the fall, and Executive Director of Emerge PA Anne Wakabayashi will headline the event, which will also feature several local candidates including Adams County Commissioner Marty Qually, who is a candidate for the 91st district of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Brendan Salyards ’20, a member of the Democrats’ executive board, credited the organization’s Vice President Andrew Dalton ’19 with developing the event and said preparations have been underway since the fall.

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“Our main goal on April 14 is to register as many new voters as possible,” a release for the event said.

Salyards also said that developing a climate of political engagement on campus is a primary motivation and that this event could grow in the future.

“We hope to expand voter registration on campus and promote the ideas of voting and being civically active on campus,” Salyards said. “I think there is also the hope that this event will be helpful in bringing higher profile candidates in the fall.”

The 2018 National Youth Poll conducted by the Harvard Institute of Politics found that 37 percent of Americans between age 18 and 29 will “definitely be voting” in 2018 as compared to 23 percent from that age group in 2014.

While College Democrats hopes to harness that enthusiasm from young voters in 2018, students are welcome to register with any party at Young Voters Day.

“We do not discriminate based on party affiliation in registering people to vote,” Salyards said. “The event is not intended to be a solely partisan affair.”

More information is available via Facebook.

Author: Benjamin Pontz

Benjamin Pontz '20 served as Editor-in-Chief of The Gettysburgian from 2018 until 2020, Managing News Editor from 2017 until 2018, News Editor in the spring of 2017, and Staff Writer during the fall of 2016. During his tenure, he wrote 232 articles. He led teams that won two first place Keystone Press Awards for ongoing news coverage (once of Bob Garthwait's resignation, and the other of Robert Spencer's visit to campus) and was part of the team that wrote a first-place trio of editorials in 2018. He also received recognition for a music review he wrote in 2019. A political science and public policy major with a music minor, he graduated in May of 2020 and will pursue a master's degree in public policy on a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Manchester before enrolling in law school.

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