Nearly 50 People Attend Voter Empowerment Training in Berea

This blog post was written by Beth Bissmeyer, a Berea College student and co-chair of the Madison County chapter.

A group of nearly 50 people--Berea College students, staff, faculty, and community members--came out for a Voter Empowerment training Monday night, held on the Berea College campus. Folks learned how to help people fill out voter registration cards, how to do outreach, and also learned more about KFTC's Voter Empowerment work.

The training served as a useful introduction to non-partisan voter empowerment work for folks who are hoping to get more involved, especially students. While youth have historically not turned out to the polls, recent trends are showing that more and more college-age people are getting involved and voting.

People who attended the training had a range of interests, with some wanting to get more involved with KFTC's work while others want to focus on mobilizing voters on the Berea campus. A group of students, faculty, and staff make up Berea Vote 2008, a group whose aim is to register and educate people on campus. Several people involved with that project came out to learn more about voter empowerment strategies and also about restoration of voting rights for former felons.

Tianna Williams, who is involved with Berea Vote 2008, is not a stranger to the restoration issue. A few semesters ago, Tianna helped create digital stories of former felons through a class for KFTC. "Because this is happening and because we are here in Kentucky, I think we should really do something to try to change it," said Tianna about how people are disenfranchised in Kentucky. (Check out the digital story Tianna helped create and a few others here).

Lisa Abbott, who helped facilitate the training, said to the group, "What you're doing here is a big part of answering that question--will young people turn out and have their voices heard in this election?" It's clear from the size of the crowd and their enthusiasm that the answer to that question is a resounding yes.