Group Facilitator: Josh Douglas

Notes: Megan Gulla

of participants in group including facilitator and note taker: 5

Main Topics Discussed: the need for more/better civic education to combat voter apathy, alternatives to the Electoral College

• Voting education starting in childhood
  • Massachusetts passed a law to require for graduation the completion of an action civics project for all highschoolers
• Need to engage young people in the voting process. Mock elections, shadowing poll workers, lower the voting age to 16 for school board and city elections.
• Bring polling machines to schools (Scotland does this)
• Trust teachers that they won’t be indoctrinating students.
  • A teacher in Scotland would bring election-related mail and press clippings to class and have students analyze the materials as a group.
  • Should we suggest a curriculum to the school board?
  • Kathy Swann- the Three C’s Model
• Need to encourage parents to participate in classroom events
  • What do you do when you do have parental involvement, but it’s mostly in higher-level classes, or affluent schools?
  • How do you convince parents who do have the means to get involved?
  • How do you minimize the obstacles for others?
  • Nothing will convince a parent who just isn’t interested.
• Concern about the lack of civic participation in general.
  • Lack of interest in voting
    • Is it a lack of interest or barriers to participation?
    • “My vote doesn’t matter”, “Nothing ever changes”
    • Trust is required in little d democracy
• Ranked Choice Voting
  • Multiple candidates
    • Instead of voting for only one, you can vote for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on
    • San Francisco, Minneapolis St. Paul, Portland, ME, entire state of ME does this
    • Fairvote.org
    • Higher turnouts with ranked choice voting
    • Memphis about to adopt
• Electoral College
  • Get rid of the electoral college
  • National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
  • Nationalpopularvote.org
  • Now, in 48 states, the winner of the popular vote in the state gets all the electoral college votes
• National Popular Vote
  • Instead of electoral college votes going to statewide winner, they would be given to the national winner
  • This wouldn’t go into effect until there are enough legislative votes for it- 270
  • Problems
    • It will be challenged in the courts
    • Another way to change the electoral college would be through a constitutional amendment, but it would be extremely difficult to do.
    • Almost need a Republican to win the popular vote, but lose the electoral college to spark a change of opinion.
• Election FAC, 2002
  • Law- help Americans vote
  • 2 Republican, 2 Democratic commissioners
  • Released best practices, but experienced a lot of gridlock
• We don’t have universal Federal voting laws because local control allows for experimentation, often resulting in positive changes.
• What can you do?
  • Find council members who agree with you
  • Advocate for civic education
    • Best practices for SBDM, teachers, resources for parents
      • Pritchard Committee
      • Student Voice Team
        • Both support dialogue between parent leaders and students