White Paper

I think I've finished my white paper with the exception of getting feedback and doing some editing. But the main points are all there. If you would like to read it, let me know and I'll send you the document. I can't figure out how to upload a word document to this site.

Basically, the gist of my paper talks about HB 1355 and how the law affects college students when it comes to voting. I also point out that when a third party voter registration group is fined because they do not turn their voter registration applications to the Supervisor of Elections on time (within 48 hours of the person signing the application), the money does not go towards voter education, like it used to. So, how does this tie into education? Simple. Many Americans lack basic knowledge about their own government, voting procedures, etc. This has been established by many surveys that have gone out over the last few years including one from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) whose report can be found here. In 2007, 71% of Americans failed the Civics Literacy test which you can take here. Additionally, the Nation's Report Card on Civics revealed that students are making progress in civics in fourth grade but not in grades eight or twelve. Why are we not putting more money into civics education? Funds from the third party voter registration groups fines should be applied to strengthen civic  knowledge in our state. That would be putting the money to good use.  I'll close with this quote from Teddy Roosevelt.

“It ought to be axiomatic in this country that every man must devote a reasonable share of his time to doing his duty in the political life of the community. . . . The people who say that they have not time to attend to politics are simply saying that they are unfit to live in a free community.” –Teddy Roosevelt, 

“The Duties of American Citizenship” 

January 1883, Buffalo, New York