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Why
Vote? Does My Vote Really Count?
One
Vote Can Make a Great Deal of Difference... Your Vote Could Be the One!
Yes, your
vote is as important as the President's, Governor's, your neighbors, and
everyone else. It may sound like a cliché, but EVERY VOTE COUNTS!
Below are some examples of one vote making the difference:
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Women
won the right to vote in 1920 by passage of the 19th amendment to the
Constitution. Tennessee, the last state needed to pass the
amendment, ratified the amendment by
one vote.
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John
Kennedy won the Presidency in 1960 by just
one vote per
precinct in Illinois. One voter in each precinct could have
changed the election, giving Nixon 26 electoral votes in Illinois and
consequently electing him President.
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In the
1994 Election for NYS Governor the outcome was determined by only
185,000 votes, out of over 5 million votes cast statewide.
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In the
2000 Election, the election for President was essentially determined by
only 537 votes in one Florida county, out over 50 million votes cast
nationwide.
Disturbing Statistics:
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In 2000
21% of eligible voters were not registered to vote. That’s about 3
million people. This makes NY 25th out of the 50 States.
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Only
61% of eligible voters actually turned out to vote in 2000.
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There
are over 35 million voting age Americans with disabilities. Only
41% voted in 2000. This is 10% below the national average of 51%.
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Out of
the 23.5 million individuals with disabilities who did not vote in 1996,
9.2 million were unregistered. This means that there were 14.3
million who registered but did not vote!
Make
Your Vote Count,
Register Today! |
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Resources & Links:
NYS Board of Elections:
1-800-367-8683 |
http://www.elections.state.ny.us
NYS Board of Elections
District Search: |
http://nymap.elections.state.ny.us/nysboe/
Federal Elections Commission: 1-800-424-9530 |
http://www.fec.gov
NYS
League of Women Voters: 518-465-4162 |
www.lwvny.org
The
League of
Women Voters -
Democracy Network http://www.dnet.org
PBS Democracy Project: |
http://www.pbs.org/democracy
Project Vote Smart: |
http://www.vote-smart.org
Yahoo Politics:
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http://politics.yahoo.com
FairVote.org, The Center
for Voting and Democracy:
| http://www.fairvote.org
Kids Voting USA:
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http://www.kidsvotingusa.org
NYS Congressional &
Legislative District Maps:
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http://latfor.state.ny.us/maps
Participate America Foundation:
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http://www.participateamerica.org
Rock the Vote:
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http://www.rockthevote.com/home.php |