With barely half of eligible 18 to 29 year-olds voting in 2008, it seems many young citizens look at the political process and ask, “Why bother?”
KUT News has begun a reporting and outreach series this topic. It's part of a broader initiative, "Why Bother? Engaging Texans In Democracy Today," in partnership with the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life and KLRU-TV, Austin PBS.
Our first forum, “Why Bother? Voices of a New Generation,” is airing tonight on on KUT 90.5 and on KLRU, both at 8 p.m.
The series and our taping on Tuesday has already inspired some conversation.
On her blog, audience member Katy Waters reiterates some points she made at the taping about the millennial generation:
46 million millennials are eligible to vote in 2012- that's a lot of power! This election is important to me because reproductive rights are under attack, and this not only effects me, but it effects ALL of our mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives ability to contribute to our society economically.
Another speaker, who calls herself A. Lista, actually engaged with KUT before the Tuesday night taping. On her blog, she questioned why the “Why Bother” series is probing civic disengagement when registering to vote and learning your polling place can become a convoluted process.
We tackled the subject ourselves with the assistance of a KUT News intern, who coincidentally was in the process of changing her voter registration. Prompted by A.Lista’s concerns, we ended up writing a post about how to register and where to vote in Austin.
If you attended the “Why Bother?” taping, did it get you to think differently? We’re curious to hear your thoughts.
