Rock the Vote

Vote-Smart's guide voting

PBS Young Americans

Even if you aren't old enough to vote, you don't have to feel left out of the process. In the Washington state Senate election on November 3, young people made a difference on both sides. Hans Z, age 15, worked several hours a week for Linda Smith, the Republican challenger to Senator Patty Murray. "The fact that we can't vote is taken too seriously by my age group," he says. "We are just as much a part of the community and we can be an important part of the political system."

Hans joined the campaign to express his opinions on education and Social Security. He organized phone banks and "sign-wavings"-- where volunteers stood by the side of the road waving signs. He contacted Smith supporters and asked them to come into the headquarters and help him make phone calls to the general public. He estimates he was responsible for over a thousand calls. Hans might not be old enough to cast a ballot directly, but in the end, he may have been indirectly responsible for hundreds of Smith votes.

Mariko H, who worked for Smith's opponent Senator Patty Murray, says that volunteering helped her prepare for the future. "You know how teachers give you notes to prepare for a test? Well being part of the campaign are my notes for my future job and life." The fourteen-year-old Gung Fu champion (Bruce Lee style street fighting) cares most strongly about the environment and says that politics gave her a confidence she never knew she had. "I've learned to talk to adults, and to be more professional," she says. Exposure to people of different ages and backgrounds showed Mariko that she can handle herself in front of strangers.

Patty Murray

Linda Smith

Marisa D, 17, the youth coordinator for Linda Smith, says her experience helped her form a professional personality. Learning how to spot the issues and talk about them in a sensitive way will help her when she's in the business world. "If I'm a business person, I can't insult someone who feels differently about an issue, or else I lose their business. I'm getting more points of view by being involved, and I'm learning how to talk to people, even when we don't agree."

For many young women, working for a female candidate means spending time with someone they can respect and emulate. Patty Murray, who was elected in 1992 as a "Mom in tennis sneakers," is Mariko's role model. "You don't see too many women in government or positions of power, so it's great to have a woman senator to look up to and who is so in touch."

Volunteers couldn't help but learn about how the government really works, and it was often much more fun than a book. Shira K, age 17, decided to join Patty Murray's campaign to see how politics works "off paper." She says seeing how campaigns responded to the public and the media was particularly interesting. "The whole office will be quiet to hear a radio commentary on the election, and within ten minutes, one person will be calling the radio show, one will be responding in an editorial and the campaign will begin to adjust its focus."

Volunteers had to know their candidate's position on a variety of issues, including education, the environment and Social Security. They were often in the office when campaign managers and speech writers debated the issues, and this meant learning without studying.

Mariko says the debates in Patty Murray's office helped her form her own opinions. "Now when I talk about issues I have reasons for why I believe what I do. Whenever issues come up I give reasons. I know what 's going on. Other people's opinions are more gray. Now my friends ask me my opinion because they think I have good opinions."

In the 5 months Marisa volunteered for Linda Smith, she says she learned more than she did in government class. "What they teach you in school is filtered. I've met a lot of smart people working on the campaign. When I have a question about the way the government works, or how this or that happens in Congress, they tell me."

Spending time at campaign headquarters also gave teens access to political gossip and reports that were not mentioned on the news. Marisa says she learned about things that were not written about in the papers. "My eyes have been opened up by being a part of the process."

And politics was sometimes a good time. When Linda Smith won the Republican primaries, Marisa stayed out all night with other campaign workers (her grandfather went with her). The next day, her mom let her sleep in and miss school. Her teachers didn't mind because they saw her political involvement as an educational activity.

Mariko went to local campaign events with Patty Murray. The highlight of her Summer was getting to meet Vice President Gore. "I said 'how are you and welcome to Seattle.' and he shook my hand and said 'I'm fine, Seattle's great!'" Volunteers went to events such as AIDS walks and local fairs, which were critical for candidates.

For most volunteers, working for a campaign made them feel connected, and helped them express the way they felt about issues like education, the environment and Social Security. Hans believes this is one way he could address problems that directly effect teenagers. "If we're not involved we may have things happen in our country that we don't want."

And waiting to cast a vote is not enough, according to Shira. The idea is to keep talking about what's important and make sure that people pay attention, she says. "People seem to think, 'there will always be someone else out there to do it.' They don't realize what would happen if everyone said that."