Parkland-nine months after 17 of his fellow class and teachers were killed dead in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the students of this city of Florida high school e Stan finally face the moment you have been waiting for after marches, strikes and events to register voters across the country: their first opportunity to vote.
The student activists of Parkland focused on the 4 million U.S. citizens turn 18 years of age this year and who will vote for the first time on Tuesday. They hope to counter voter apathy which prevails especially among young people during the mid-term presidential elections. Many of the activists, now with such well-known names as the survivor of the massacre of Parkland David Hogg, postponed their plans for College in order to mobilize young voters. Many of them possess weapons, support reforms in the name of their fallen comrades. “It’s the culmination of everything by what we’ve been working,” said Jaclyn Corin, one of the founders of the Group March For Our Lives (March for our lives).
Many of the activists, now with such well-known names as the survivor of the massacre of Parkland. Photo: AP “this is really the moment when young people will make a difference in this country”, added. Corin visited a half dozen cities in just a few days last week, getting up at 3 a.m. to deal with flights. It was all a whirlwind for the students. They have had the support of celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Oprah and have appeared on the cover of Time magazine, in television commercials and events from books, but all this will not meet its objective unless they have managed to convince the students to vote. During an event of the University of Central Florida (UCF) last week, the graduate of Stoneman Douglas and current student of the UCF Bradley Thornton accompanied his fellow students to early voting by the campus site.
Florida early voting trends indicate an increase. Photo: AP Tiffany McKelton, a UCF student, said that it would have not voted if Parkland activists had not appeared on the campus. “Never I voted… In fact, I did it for them”, said McKelton, a student of psychology at West Palm Beach.Thornton said that a simple conversation works often. “I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had that they were as: ‘Ah, I do not care’… and then through a simple and very nice friendly conversation, get this magic inspired to vote”, said Thornton.Corin said that he has met with many apathetic voters along the way. “This is really to link them with armed violence, immigration or whatever it is that you are passionate about that person,” said Corin. “I have used this tactic many times and it really worked.”
Nearly one-third did not vote in the presidential election of 2016. Photo: AP in Florida early voting trends indicate an increase in the number of young voters. Of 124,000 persons aged 18 to 29 who had voted in person in the first polling stations until Thursday, nearly one-third did not vote in the presidential election of 2016, according to the analysis of the Professor of political science of the University of Florida Daniel Smith. About half of those new voters were newly enrolled.
There are newly energized voters who did not vote in 2016 or who have signed up since then and that are attending. There is no doubt about that, said Smith.
