With a vote of 8-0, the San Diego City Council adopted a resolution making Sept. 24 “”California Youth Vote Platform Day”” to promote higher voter turnout among voters ages 18 to 24.
The resolution states that the city council recognizes the “”efforts to provide education, gather support and increase participation in the political process for our country’s young people.””
District 1 Councilmember Scott Peters sponsored the largely symbolic resolution that was the product of several months of lobbying by the YouthVote Coalition, which is a nonpartisan group seeking to increase the participation rate of young voters.
The coalition is made up of representatives from San Diego State and the University of San Diego as well as various UCSD campus groups that include the A.S. council, college councils and CalPIRG.
The city council meeting was attended by a group of four UCSD students representing the YouthVote Coalition. Melinda Gibson, chapter chair of CalPIRG at UCSD and a second-year at Eleanor Roosevelt College, was one of the members in attendance who spoke before the city council.
Afterward, Gibson said she was delighted with the unanimous passage of the resolution and said other groups in other California cities were duplicating the effort.
“”It’s really important to us in our efforts of organizing students to have the support of the city and [that] we show them that this is a statewide effort as well as a citywide effort, and that city councils across the state are also joining in,”” she said.
Gibson hopes that the council’s passage of the resolution will aid the coalition’s goal of having a youth-oriented gubernatorial debate between the candidates. While Gov. Gray Davis has declined to debate, Republican challenger Bill Simon has agreed, according to Gibson.
“”This is going to help us and give us more clout in terms of presenting this to [Davis] and getting him to agree to this debate,”” she said.
Gibson said despite the Davis’s refusal to attend the gubernatorial debate, the organization is continuing to pressure his campaign.
“”The fight is not over yet,”” she said. “”Election day hasn’t come, so we’re still working on it and pushing that, but he’s still an obstacle in that respect.””
Focusing on more immediate concerns, the YouthVote Coalition spent the remainder of the day registering UCSD students to vote. The group plans to hold another voter registration drive during third week.
“”We really want students to know that this is something that you do,”” Gibson said. “”You step on campus, you register to vote, you increase your voice as a student.””
Gibson stressed that those who register with an on-campus address will be able to vote at on-campus locations.
A.S. President Jenn Brown also attended and spoke at the Sept. 24 city council meeting. She said afterward that the presence of students at the meeting and the success of having a resolution sponsored and passed is the beginning of greater involvement from the coalition of San Diego-area university students.
“”The main reason why we wanted the city council endorsement was so we could come to city council and show them that we are running a voter registration campaign, and that the student voice in San Diego matters and will matter in the upcoming years,”” Brown said.
Brown envisions more involvement by the coalition and area students in the city council regarding issues affecting student interests in San Diego, such as transportation and affordable housing.
“”Through our coalition with San Diego State and USD, we hope to create a unified student voice with the city council,”” Brown said.
U.S. citizens have until Oct. 21 to register for the Nov. 5 general election.