Guest Retro Rob Report post Posted June 18, 2004 **Found this on Drudge** Here’s a way to get young people registered to vote: Give them free beer. Voting for Beer That’s the plan at today’s East End Festival. Monroe County Democrats have teamed up with High Falls Brewery to offer two free 2-ounce beers to those who register to vote at the festival. Then the new voter can go into a real voting booth and pick the brew they liked the most. The promotion is called “Register Your Taste.” The goal is to encourage people older than 21 to register to vote and to simulate the experience of voting. But alcohol treatment counselors fizzled on the idea, saying organizers shouldn’t link drinking with the civic duty of voting. ”I think there are other ways to motivate people to vote other than give them alcohol,” said Elaine Milton, director of the chemical dependency clinic at the Family Service of Rochester Inc. Molly Clifford, head of the Monroe County Democrats, stressed that the event is not aimed at encouraging alcohol consumption and that the samples are small. The initiative, backed by High Falls CEO Tom Hubbard and Moe Alaimo, president of the East End Business District, will also take place at two other East End festivals later this summer and at two Red Wings games. The booth will be open from 6 to 8 tonight at Alaimo’s store, Havana Moe’s, 200 East Ave. ”It’s just a fun way to get young people interested in voting,” Clifford said. The festival is a great place to promote voting because of the captive audience, said Christopher Burns, co-founder of the Rochester Young Professionals. ”Young people like to drink and politics is not something they usually think about,” said Burns, 29. ”I hope people won’t be inebriated when they vote, but it seems like a fun way to get people involved in the voting process.” Participants will vote between High Falls’ two new beers, Dundee’s Amber Lager and Pale Ale, both to be introduced this fall. Hubbard said the event is a good marketing opportunity for the local company and a way to help a good cause. About 20,000 people, largely those in their 20s, attend each East End festival. Clifford said she and Hubbard developed the idea, a nonpartisan affair, because locally and nationally it’s difficult to get young people to vote. Statistics show that the 18-to-24 age group has the lowest percentage of registered voters and number of people who come to the polls. Since 1972, the young voter participation rate has declined by about 13 percent overall — the largest drop of any age group, according to the National Association of Secretaries of State. In Monroe County, less than 8 percent of registered voters are ages 18 to 24, also the lowest of any age group. Jennifer Kunselman, 27, of Rochester said festival attendees could benefit from being able to register to vote there. Yet she said having the option at a Red Wings game would be even better. ”I think it’s important to target a younger audience,” Kunselman said. “But there is a whole other population that won’t be frequenting the festival.” David Mammano, president of the local chapter of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization, said the idea is good because it promotes voting, but he doubts it will help. He said people will vote if they want to, not because of free beers. ”Maybe they will have better luck if they have beer on Election Day.” Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC Report post Posted June 18, 2004 Can't say it was a bad idea. -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted June 18, 2004 You know, if you don't want to vote then DON'T. I'm so sick of seeing all these stupid "Get out the vote" campaigns. It's a person's right to be a slug in regards to civic duty. Hell, I don't want 1/2 the people in this country voting (and this percentage gets much higher when talking about the TSM crowd)... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC Report post Posted June 18, 2004 You know, if you don't want to vote then DON'T. I'm so sick of seeing all these stupid "Get out the vote" campaigns. It's a person's right to be a slug in regards to civic duty. Hell, I don't want 1/2 the people in this country voting (and this percentage gets much higher when talking about the TSM crowd)... Oh, I agree. Total participation is such an overrated goal to achieve. I'd rather have 50% of the population voting if no total idiots voted. -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1234-5678 0 Report post Posted June 18, 2004 Eh. 4 ounces of beer isn't enough to get me out of this chair. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Styles 0 Report post Posted June 18, 2004 Great, didn't voters have enough trouble voting SOBER last time? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
