Youth mobilize for November

The primary election season will wrap up tomorrow in Montana and South Dakota, and all eyes will turn toward November's general elections. As we reported last fall, the youth vote may be the decisive factor in this year's elections, as the Millennial Generation becomes active in ever-greater numbers - not just by voting, but by encouraging civic participation. Here are two more signposts that this is happening:

Mobilize.org has launched a Mobilize the Polls effort aimed at recruiting at least 500 young poll workers to help out at voting locations this November 4. As it says on the effort's Facebook page, "The shortage of poll workers on Election Day has been a problem for many years now. A 2005 study published by the United States Election Assistance Committee (EAC) found that during the 2004 Presidential Election, 5.8 percent of polling places and 4 percent of precincts did not have the minimum number of required poll workers."

On top of that, new technology is making it tougher for some older poll workers and voters - but members of the Millennial Generation know technology backward and forward, and their skills can make it easier for others in the community to understand the changes. If you are a young adult who is registered to vote and you can spend Election Day helping others and your country, contact Kaelan Kennedy at Mobilize.org.

Meanwhile, The National Council on Black Civic Participation is reminding everyone about its Black Youth Vote outreach program, which is a national grassroots coalition of organizations and individuals committed to increasing political and civic involvement among black men and women aged 18-35. "Because black youth under 35 represent nearly 50 percent of the black American electorate, coalition members agree that youth empowerment is the key to impacting the many serious problems confronting the black community," the group's website says. This year, Black Youth Vote will focus its energies on registration drives in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, and Texas. Learn more here. (Hat tip: African American Political Pundit.)