Second Annual We The Young People Hearing, August 12

07/30/2020

NYC Votes and the NYC Campaign Finance Board's Voter Assistance Advisory Committee (VAAC) will host the 2nd annual We The Young People public hearing on Wednesday, August 12. The hearing will be devoted to listening to young New Yorkers about increasing civic engagement among the city's youngest voters and future voters. All New Yorkers ages 14 to 25 are invited to testify.

"We want to create a space to uplift the voices and concerns of young people," said Olivia Brady, Youth Voter Coordinator for NYC Votes. "Many young New Yorkers are already very politically active, but it's our job to make sure all young New Yorkers understand and exercise their voting power in 2020."

NYC Votes encourages young people to submit more artistic forms of testimony that conveys their personal experience, or that of their community, around voting and local government. Alternative forms of testimony could include video submissions, visual art, spoken-word poetry, or other forms of creative expression.

All of the testimony provided at the hearing will inform NYC Votes and the CFB's youth empowerment work going into the 2020 election and beyond. NYC Votes set a goal of doubling youth participation in the 2021 citywide elections. 

NYC Votes and VAAC held its first ever youth-focused public hearing in August 2019. Dozens of young New Yorkers provided testimony in person at the CFB's offices in lower Manhattan. The hearing next month will be held on Zoom and broadcast on Facebook Live. Anyone interested in attending the hearing is encouraged to RSVP.