For immediate release

April 15, 2005

For more information contact:

Glen Tilot, Jim Morrison

(920) 490-7300

 

Hobart wins Project VOTE’s Voter Challenge award

 

GREEN BAY – Project VOTE today awarded its Voter Challenge trophy to the village of Hobart for having the highest voter turnout percentage in Brown County in the April 5 election.

Hobart led municipalities in the county with a 37 percent voter turnout April 5. The percentage is based on the number of registered voters in the municipality.

It marked the second consecutive spring election in which Hobart won the Voter Challenge award. The village of Howard won the award for the fall 2004 election.

Project VOTE presented the traveling trophy to Hobart Village President Richard Heidel at a news conference this morning at Green Bay City Hall. Hobart will keep the trophy at least until the spring 2006 election.

The villages of Allouez and Denmark, each with a 32 percent turnout April 5, rounded out the top three.

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.

Glen Tilot and Jim Morrison, co-chairs of Project VOTE, congratulated the citizens of Hobart for winning the award for the second time.

“The people of Hobart clearly take their civic responsibility seriously,” Tilot said. “They set a good example for voters in other communities.”

Morrison added, “We started the Voter Challenge as a friendly competition to get people talking about the importance of voting. It’s nice to see a municipality like Hobart respond in a very positive manner.”

Overall, 18 percent of eligible voters in Brown County voted in the April 5 election. Project VOTE expressed disappointment with the continued low turnout for spring elections.

“These are important elections that have a major impact on communities,” Morrison and Tilot said. “We will continue our efforts to encourage voters to go to the polls every time they have the opportunity.”

In addition to the Voter Challenge, Project VOTE efforts include candidate forums, public service announcements, yard signs and media releases. To learn more about Project VOTE, visit the group’s Web site at http://www.project-vote.org/.

 

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