PRESS RELEASES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Lenore Neier, CSSNY, 212/614-5425
Community Service Society’s
Volunteers Discover That
New York is not Safe From Voting Error
The Be Heard. Shout Out! Nonpartisan Voter Registration Drive
Uncovers Police, Felons and Young People Not Informed Of Voting
Rights and Procedures In NYC’s Low Income Neighborhoods
New York, NY, July 29, 2004
– When ten young professional volunteers participated
in the first ever nonpartisan voter registration drive, Be
Heard. Shout Out!, they quickly learned there are severe problems
within the electoral process. Many of the citizens they encountered
were either uninformed or misinformed.
Although the volunteers were pleased with their success in
registering 50 people in a single weekend, including two individuals
that didn’t know they were allowed to vote, they were
shocked by what they found. The youth they encountered while
canvassing at 125th Street and Lenox Avenue lacked basic information
about the voting process. "I had one guy beg me to help
him decide what party to choose because he was terrified of
making a mistake he would have to live with for the rest of
his life," said, Adrian Forbes, a CSS Associate volunteer.
The Associates also found that individuals on probation and
former felons, and even more surprising, those that supervise
them, do not know that they are eligible to vote. "We
encountered two former felons and even a cop that had no idea
those on probation or convicted felons were even eligible
to vote. They aren't getting the information they need,"
said Munira Khapra, another CSS Associate volunteer.
Before the drive, the volunteers participated in a special
two-hour training course conducted by CSS’s Associate
Director of Political Development Gabriel Torres-Rivera. "I
am interested yet concerned to see if we uncover the same
situations when we go canvassing at the James Weldon Johnson
Public Houses in East Harlem this Saturday," stated Torres-Rivera. The CSS Associates, a group of concerned, dynamic young professionals
in the public and private sectors, committed to empower the
underrepresented of New York, saw the need and created the
Be Heard, Shout Out
campaign.
For over 150 years, CSS, an independent,
nonprofit organization, has tackled the complex issues of
poverty by applying our experience through three mutually
supportive approaches. We advocate for the poor and underserved;
research and shape public policy affecting them; and provide
direct services that improve their quality of life.
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