Chicago Votes Boosts Voter Registration

By: Ashmar Mandou

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Local News

(Left to right) Chicago Votes volunteer Claudia Telles and Chicago Votes volunteer Melanie Maglaya help to increase voter registration during National Voter Registration Day Tuesday, Sept. 25.

In an effort to engage future leaders to vote, Chicago Votes orchestrated a citywide voter’s registration event with the help of 40 organizations in honor of National Voter Registration Day, Tuesday, Sept. 25.

“The overall tone of yesterday’s event was an exciting one,” said Rebecca Reynolds, program director for Chicago Votes. “It’s truly amazing to be able to go out and get these young voters excited about the upcoming elections and to make them realize they have something to offer. They have power.”

Chicago Votes is a nonpartisan organization designed to educate, engage, and train Chicago’s next generation of young leaders. As Reynolds stated, Chicago Votes is simply an organization that aims to get people excited about the electoral process and what it means to mobilize change. “We are finding that young community members are feeling discouraged and disenchanted with our politicians,” said Reynolds. “We need to bring our issues on a larger platform so that our lawmakers are going to have to be more responsive.”

Volunteer for Chicago Votes Claudia Telles believes among young voters, Latinos can truly leave their mark in the upcoming election. “The Latino population is growing and we need to be fairly represented in office,” said Telles, who, along with volunteer Melanie Maglaya, was stationed at the University of Illinois-Chicago to recruit more voters. “Key issues need to be resolved, such as the health of our community. More Latinos and African-Americans are suffering from obesity at an alarming rate. So we need politicians who will put this issue at the top of their agenda and create solutions to this epidemic.”

National Voter Registration Day was just the kick-off to many events Chicago Votes will be hosting throughout the City of Chicago until the November elections. Next month, Chicago Votes plans to host several events to boost voter registration; among them is Trick Or Vote on October 30 to 31.

If you would like to learn more about Chicago Votes or how you can get involved, visit www.chicagovotes.com.

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