Creative Videos Produced by Students About Local Elections

Doylestown PA

03 May, 2021

2:24 PM

Description

The League of Women Voters of Bucks County has announced the winners of their first student video contest. The first prize of $500 was awarded to Amy Liu, a senior at Central Bucks High School South. The second prize was awarded to Roshan Hoban, Jack McGrath, and Vincent Tang, 7th graders at Newtown Middle School. The third prize of $100 was awarded to Ashton Bender, a senior at Central Bucks High School South. Open to all Bucks County students, the LWVBC Get Out & Vote PSA Contest challenged contestants to create a one-minute video highlighting the importance of voting in local elections. The target audience of their creations was to be young voters and recently engaged voters. A team of League members judged the videos on many measures, including the clarity of videos explaining how local elected officials impact our lives. Many students competed in the contest, noted Connie Borichevsky, chair of the video contest committee. "We were pleased to receive many creative videos produced by our clever Bucks County students. They presented information on the importance of local elections and encouraged voters to turn out for the Municipal Primary on Tuesday, May 18." Early estimates from CIRCLE, the nonpartisan, independent research organization based at Tufts University, is that 52 – 55% of youth voted in the presidential election of 2020, a significant increase from 2016. The percentage of youth that tried to convince other youth to vote, based on pre-election 2018 and 2020 surveys by CIRCLE, rose from 33 to 50 %. Similarly, young people's registering others to vote, participating in campaigns, and volunteering for a political campaign all reflected greater engagement. The League's Get Out & Vote PSA Contest was offered to bring that same enthusiasm and momentum for first-time voters and recently engaged voters to the important municipal races. View the winning videos at the League of Women Voters of Bucks County YouTube channel or from their website, www.lwvbucks.org. View the 1st place winning video at http://bit.ly/1stPlacePSA. A direct link to the 2nd place winning video is http://bit.ly/2ndPlacePSA . View the 3rd place winning video at http://bit.ly/3rdPlacePSA . Today, May 3, 2021, is the deadline to register or make changes to your registration for reasons including name change, new address, party affiliation. People choosing to register to vote, or who may need to confirm they are correctly registered, should visit the official Pennsylvania website, VotesPA.com. The League offers a guide to ballot issues and candidates on Vote411.org. This one-stop-shop for voting information also provides help in finding polling locations and information for first-time voters. Pennsylvania's closed primary elections leave only Republicans and Democrats able to vote for candidates. However, all voters, including independent and third-party, are eligible on May 18 to vote on four important questions on the ballot, three of which could change the Pennsylvania Constitution. Vote411 offers the ballot questions in plain language, provides background information, and arguments for and against the measures. The League of Women Voters is open to all, age 16 and older. Please visit LWVBucks.org to learn more.