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Sujatha Jahagirdar (323) 309 6120 (cell)

 

Young Voter Push Gets Text Messaging Boost

20,000 Youth to Receive Cell Phone Reminders on Eve of Super Tuesday as part of joint effort by the Student PIRGs, Credo Mobile, and the ONE Campaign

In an effort to tap into a new generation of voters that is plugged in, on-line and networked, youth vote organizers will send 20,000 young voters a text reminder to vote on the eve of  Super Tuesday.  The ‘text out the vote’ push comes on the heels of a joint Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project and Credo Mobile study released this fall that found such messages can increase youth turnout.

“From YouTube to Facebook to cell phones, tech-savvy young voters are changing the face of the elections,” said Sujatha Jahagirdar, Program Director with the Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project.

The first presidential contests of the year showed dramatic surges in youth voter turnout across the country and youth organizers report unabated enthusiasm on Super Tuesday campuses.  At the University of Southern California, for example, student leaders manning campus registration tables were overwhelmed by young voters rushing to meet California’s voter registration deadline. 

Youth organizers with the Student PIRGs are tapping into this enthusiasm to ensure that the voice of young voters is heard loud and clear on Super Tuesday.   Across the country they have stormed dorms, classrooms and campus quads, texted their peers, created Facebook groups and organized ‘Flash Mobs’ to build campus ‘buzz’ around the upcoming primaries. 

Election-eve text messages will be sent to young voters across the country by the Student PIRGs, Credo Mobile and the One Campaign. 

 

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The Student PIRGs are independent state-based student organizations that work to solve public interest problems related to the environment, consumer protection, and government reform.

 

The Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project is the nation’s largest youth voter mobilization program.  Since 2004, we have registered more than 600,000 young people and made more than 650,000 peer to peer voter turnout contacts to get young people to the polls on Election Day. Due in large part to our efforts, the youth vote increased by 4.3 million votes, or 9% in 2004 and an analysis of our work in 2006 found that in the student dense precincts in which we worked with our allies, youth voter turnout increased on average by 157%.