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Coleman named executive director of the America250PA initiative

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At brunch, Kaufer boasts veteran-related proposals

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Your vote matters.</p><p>Every vote matters.</p><p>The issue is that not enough eligible voters vote &#8212; just check the turnout figures from non-presidential years especially. You will find that between 20% and 30% of registered voters actually cast a ballot.</p><p>What is even more disturbing is that there are far too many people who are eligible to vote who don&#8217;t even register.</p><p>It&#8217;s time for people to get energized about voting &#8212; to register and to vote &#8212; and to vote in every election, primary or general.</p><p>After all, it&#8217;s an American privilege, so exercise it.</p><p>Last week Luzerne County Councilman Patrick Bilbow, a high school principal, decided to make some noise about the importance of voting. Bilbow is spearheading an effort to register every high school student eligible to vote in Luzerne County.</p><p>Now that&#8217;s a tall order, but an admirable one at that.</p><p>Bilbow will be presenting at every Luzerne County high school over the next month in an effort to get county youth engaged in upcoming elections.</p><p>&#8220;As a principal and as a councilman, I hear from so many students asking how they could get involved&#8221; Bilbow said. &#8220;My goal is that these students register, vote and continue to vote over their lifetime.&#8221;</p><p>Bilbow&#8217;s effort comes soon after the Department of State launched a statewide initiative and Bilbow stressed that this is not a partisan issue and was inspired after seeing that voter turnout continues to decline in Luzerne County and across the nation.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t care if these kids vote Republican, Democrat, Green, independent or anything else.I just want them to vote&#8221; said Bilbow. &#8220;When I saw that the 2016 presidential election had a 20-year low in voter turnout, I knew I had to do something.&#8221;</p><p>Now isn&#8217;t that refreshing? Register, Bilbow says, and choose your political party &#8212; affiliation doesn&#8217;t matter &#8212; getting involved and participating in the process is what matters.</p><p>Students eligible to register to vote are those who are either 18 years of age, or 17 years of age and will be 18 on or before the date of the next primary, special, municipal, or general election.</p><p>Bilbow&#8217;s goal would be that every high school receives a Governor&#8217;s Civic Engagement Award. The award is intended to recognize and commemorate the efforts of the next generation of leaders to educate, engage and inform their fellow students about how to get involved in the voting process.</p><p>Pennsylvania&#8217;s Acting Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar recently said the program promotes student-led voter registration efforts at high schools and recognizes schools that register at least 65 percent of their eligible students.</p><p>Boockvar urges educators to enroll their schools in the program as soon as possible so they can get the voter registration toolkit early and receive valuable updates throughout the school year.</p><p>In its first year, 2,955 eligible students registered to vote, and 16 schools won awards. Last year, 3,109 eligible students registered to vote, 23 schools won awards and eight outstanding students earned individual recognition for working to register their peers and also serving as poll workers.</p><p>Now we&#8217;re getting somewhere.</p><p>As Education Secretary Pedro A. Rivera said, voting is a fundamental right in our country and registering to vote is the first step students need to take to participate in this democratic process.</p><p>&#8220;We encourage all students 18 and older to register through this initiative so that their votes can be counted, and we applaud our students who are helping their peers learn about and act on their civic responsibilities,&#8221; Rivera said.</p><p>And last week, Gov. Tom Wolf announced a new option for voters to apply online for their absentee ballot. The mobile-friendly application site is at &#8212; <a href="http://votesPA.com/ApplyAbsentee" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">votesPA.com/ApplyAbsentee</a>. Voters who apply will receive their absentee ballot in the mail.</p><p>The governor said giving voters the option to apply for an absentee ballot online is another important step to make voting more accessible.</p><p>Yet another positive in making it easier for voters to vote.</p><p>In August 2015, Wolf launched online voter registration. Since then, more than 1.4 million applicants have used the site to apply for a new voter registration or update an existing registration.</p><p>It&#8217;s refreshing to see people like Gov. Wolf, Secretary Boockvar, Secretary Rivera and Councilman Bilbow stepping to the plate to encourage people to exercise their right to vote.</p><p>Now just do it.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_Oboyle_Bill-2-1-4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle, or email at boboyle@www.timesleader.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Beyond the Byline: Young people, get out and vote