Your hard work this year has resulted in hundreds of students seeing themselves as voters for the first time. These students pledged to make their voices heard in local elections in St. Paul and Minneapolis and in school board races in many cities across the state. On National Voter Registration Day 1,300 of these students registered to vote. These students may be voting for the first time in a few years, or for some, this is their very first election. Your work is empowering these students and helping us create positive change for students at every level of government.
While many students see themselves as voters, many have not participated in the interview process that occurs before we enter the voting booth: caucuses. During caucuses each political party nominates their candidates for office and adopts resolutions on what to include in their party platform. You have the power to choose who ends up on your ballot! And you have the power to make sure your chosen party has a platform that address the issues that you care about! Many students do not know about this process and as a result are losing this valuable chance to advocate for themselves and their community. That is why this year we are running our first ever Vote 2018 Caucus Competition! We are asking every region to band together and pledge students to caucus and/or vote in the 2018 General Election. The region with the most pledges to caucus and or vote will get a special outing during the Monday evening of the Advocacy Day conference. And every region that gets 400 pledges between now and January 29 will receive an exclusive LeadMN sweatshirt!
Now that we see ourselves as voters it is time to take it to the next level and caucus!