For immediate release

     March 28, 2005

                                                                   For more information contact:

                                                                   Glen Tilot

                                                                              Jim Morrison

                                                                   (920) 490-7300

 

Project VOTE to announce latest municipal Voter Challenge

 

GREEN BAY – Project VOTE will announce the details of the latest municipal Voter Challenge at a news conference Tuesday, March 29 at Green Bay City Hall.

At least nine municipalities in Brown County will compete in the Voter Challenge, a competition for the highest voter turnout in the county in the April 5 election.

The news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the City Council Chambers, Room 203 of City Hall.

Project VOTE (Voice of the Electorate) is a local nonpartisan group working to increase voter turnout and awareness in Brown County. The group organized the Voter Challenge a year ago as a competition among Brown County municipalities to encourage voters to go to the polls.

Project VOTE awards a traveling trophy to the municipality with the highest voter turnout. The winner keeps the trophy until the next election. The village of Howard, which had the highest turnout in the 2004 fall election, is the defending champion.

Glen Tilot and Jim Morrison, co-chairs of Project VOTE, said the Voter Challenge has been an effective way to focus public attention on elections.

“This friendly competition gets people talking about the importance of going to the polls,” they said. “It also has been a lot of fun for the municipalities and their elected officials.”

The April 5 election will feature a contested race for state superintendent of public instruction, municipal and school board races and numerous referenda.

Elections with primarily local contests on the ballot typically have not had high levels of voter turnout. However, they are important elections and produce campaigns that are examples of grassroots politics at its finest, according to Project VOTE. The group also noted that local elected officials can have a major impact on a community’s overall quality of life and level of taxation.

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