When Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act, or “Motor Voter” as it is more commonly known, a tidal wave of newly registered voters was expected to participate in our democratic process.
In some ways, Motor Voter was successful. Voter rolls across the country swelled as new voters conveniently had the opportunity to register to vote while they applied for or renewed their driver’s licenses or visited other government agencies. It removed many vestiges of discrimination that historically resulted in lower voter registration rates of minorities and persons with disabilities.
Despite these successes, participation in Kentucky and across the country is still too low. That’s because Motor Voter wasn’t really designed to address the real problem – the low level of participation in our democratic process.
In my opinion, voter participation must begin with education. We must educate our children about the importance of democracy and their participation in it. Over the years schools in Kentucky and across America have seen a dramatic decrease in the amount of civic education in the classroom. While no one reason can explain the decline, the negative impact upon our youth cannot be questioned.
Declining test scores show that young Americans know less about the democratic and political processes than previous generations. Many older Americans watch in embarrassment as numerous young citizens are unable to correctly identify major players in federal and state government, the U.S. Constitution, or even the Bill of Rights.
While these anecdotes are alarming, it should come as no surprise. Without civics education, students are unaware of even the most fundamental aspects of our nation’s history and foundations. As a result, many young people find voting intimidating and become disenfranchised from the process simply because they are uneducated about their right to vote and their civic responsibilities.
A good first step in addressing this problem is the upcoming Civic Literacy Summit. State and national leaders will gather on October 5th at NKU’s METS Center to discuss how to improve the civic literacy of our youth and to find a way to encourage young people to participate in the democratic process.
This summit is the result of a partnership with Senator Jack Westwood (R-Crescent Springs), Representative Tanya Pullin (D-South Shore), the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Kentucky Department of Education, and Northern Kentucky University.
The Civics Summit is the first step in a multi-year commitment to improve civic literacy with the ultimate goal of improving participation. Coming together, we believe that Kentucky can become a national leader in civic education, literacy, & engagement.
Motor Voter has removed the barriers to registration cited by so many non-voters. To improve participation, registration alone is not sufficient, but it is an excellent place to start. We must restore civic education to the classroom. We must find ways to engage young people in the civic processes our communities. We must remind citizens why it is so important to vote every May and November.
Democracy by definition involves “the people.” Democracy allows “the people” to express their opinions, but without participation, democracy crumbles. We must act now to prevent this from happening. The Civics Summit is the next important step.
Through registration and education, we will see more participation. Motor Voter has laid the groundwork. We must finish the job.