Combatting low voter turnout

I'm glad to see there's an effort in Milton, VT to register voters. The deadline in Vermont for voting on Town Meeting Day, March 6th, is Monday, February 26th. I'm sure they've been busy in Milton.

Burlington Free Press, 02/19/07 --

MILTON -- In the past five years, an average of just 26 percent of registered voters in Milton have voted at Town Meeting Day. That number is even lower when it comes to revotes on the school budget, which have taken place four out of the past five years.

Last year, the school budget failed to gain enough votes to pass on the first try. The low voter turnout -- 1,897 votes out of 5,944 registered voters -- combined with the budget's failure to pass by 121 votes, galvanized members of the community who were tired of so few people deciding for a town of 10,000.

Community activist and School Board member Steve Rose and his wife, Kris Lukens-Rose, led the charge for their fellow Milton residents to get out and vote. Together with other like-minded parents, students and residents, the couple helped form Friends of Milton Voters to rally registered voters to the polls.

Read all about it here.

Burlington Voter Power had two registration drives this past week, at Burlington High School and Champlain College. Fifteen first time voters were registered.