By Becci Robbins
The SC Progressive Network is gearing up its Missing Voter Project to find, engage and register South Carolinians who aren’t voting. In the 2004 presidential year election, slightly less than half of the voting-age population turned out, putting South Carolina 42nd in voter participation. In 2006, for mid-term elections, slightly more than a third showed up at the polls (35 percent).
“There is nothing more important to a healthy democracy than an engaged citizenry,” said Network Director Brett Bursey. “Americans should be alarmed at how the monied interests in this country have hijacked the electoral process. Ordinary citizens are getting the short end of the stick by not participating in elections.”
The US ranks 138th in the world in voter turn out, falling between Armenia and Nigeria, according to a 2002 study by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, based in Stockholm.
“While we are busy trying to export democracy around the world, ironically, too many of us are not practicing it here,” said Rev. Dr. Bennie Colclough, who serves as the Network’s Cochair. “This could have something to do with the fact that we are the only wealthy nation that doesn’t provide education and health care to its citizens as part of their democratic social contract.”
The Missing Voter Project is designed to take voter registration beyond traditional party building or drumming up support for a specific campaign or candidate. The MVP is an effort to engage new voters in a larger movement for social change based on citizen empowerment.
“I can’t tell someone that registering and voting is going to improve their life,” Bursey said.” The system itself is broken. Due to the creation of ‘safe’ districts for incumbent legislators, we have the least competitive legislative races in the nation, with most seats being uncontested. And the sad reality is that 98 percent of the candidates who spend the most money are the ones who win. That’s not an election, it’s an auction.”
The Missing Voter Project is a civic engagement program with a special emphasis on minority youth. Since 2004, the MVP has provided street maps identifying unregistered and infrequent voters in minority precincts throughout rural South Carolina, and has registered more than 6,000 voters. About half of South Carolina’s black population is registered, and about half of those registered turn out to vote. The service has been offered statewide to other nonprofits to enhance their voter registration work.
The Missing Voter Project is built on the idea that registering and voting is simply the first step to building power at the grassroots level. The intention is to create a movement of voters with enough power to help set political priorities that meet their needs rather than the needs of politicians and corporate interests.
“Most folks in this state are not voting because they don’t believe it will make a difference,” Bursey said. “But imagine how we could change life in South Carolina if we didn’t leave running the government to those with access to wealth. It’s a long-term effort we are proposing, but people are hungry for change. We want to offer them a way to make it happen.”
The Network is organizing free, nonpartisan voter registration training sessions throughout the state to show groups and individuals how to use high-tech maps to maximize their registration efforts. The two-hour training sessions are 7-9pm in the following cities:
Winnsboro: Aug. 9, Glover’s Memorial Chapel, 423 N. Congress St. (Network will partner with Sigma Theta, Fairfield Co. NAACP, SC Voter Education Project)
Charleston: Aug. 14, Morris Brown Church, 13 Morris St. (Network will partner with Charleston NAACP, SC Voter Education Project)
Columbia: Aug. 19, St. John’s Baptist, corner of Farrow and Beltline: (Network will partner with Columbia NAACP, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, SC Voter Education Project)
Greenville: Aug. 21: Mt. Pleasant Community Center, 715 S Fairfield Rd: (Network will partner with Greenville NAACP, League of Women Voters, SC Voter Education Project)
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