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For Immediate Release
November 7, 2007
Contact: Carolyn Kreuger, Kids Voting Durham
Phones: Office (919) 560-7321 Mobile (919) 423-9227
Kids Voting Results Mirror the Choices of Adult Voters
Nearly 7,000 Children and Youth Participate in Election
Durham, NC
Durham’s youth have spoken, and results of Kids Voting 2007 Elections show they tend to favor the same leaders as our community’s adult voters.
Nearly 7000 young Durham citizens cast a ballot in the Mayor & City Council Elections. Like their parents, Durham’s students voted to return Bill Bell to the Mayor’s office, giving him 64% percent of their votes. Diane Cattoti was the leading City Council candidate among youth. While Farad Ali and Eugene Brown also made the kids’ final cut, Ali took second place with a 7 point lead over Brown.
Durham youth passed all four bond issues, though more youth were reluctant to vote for the Street & Sidewalk bond than adults. While 72% of adult voters said “yes” to the Street & Sidewalk bond, only 58% of youth thought this was a wise investment, while 42% voted against.
When asked what three things Durham needed to work on most, young voters chose schools, safety & crime, and homelessness, with drug & alcohol abuse and environment also receiving a significant percentage of votes.
More than 75% of students said they had talked about these elections in their classrooms, while approximately a third had discussed them with their family.
Durham’s youth voted at schools and polling sites on Monday and Tuesday with the assistance of dozens volunteers from the schools and community. “We are thrilled at the number of students offered a voting experience this year, which was made possible only through our dedicated community partners including educators, community and youth groups who adopted polling sites, and individual volunteers,” said Donna Rewalt, Community Outreach Director at the Durham Cooperative Extension.
Kids Voting Durham works to help youth understand and believe in the power they have as active citizens and informed voters. The organization, which is an affiliate of Kids Voting NC and Kids Voting USA, has served Durham since 2000.
For more information, please contact Carolyn Kreuger at 919-560-7321, http://www.kidsvotingdurham.org
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North Carolina Cooperative Extension is an educational partnership helping people put research-based knowledge to work for economic prosperity, environmental stewardship and an improved quality of life. The Durham County Center of NC Cooperative Extension offers programs in youth development, family and consumber education, community development, and agriculture and horticulture. For more information about the Durham County Center, call 560-0525 or visit our website at www.ncces.edu/durham.
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