Contact:  Brian Walsh
September 14, 2004
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Picture: House Democrat Whip Steny Hoyer, Chairman Ney, and Dr. DeForest B. Soaries, Jr., Chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission)

Ney Helps Launch National Voter Registration Week

Joins National Association of Secretaries of State & the U.S. Election Assistance Commission for Capitol Hill Press Conference

WASHINGTON D.C. – With the November election less than two months away, U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, Chairman of the House Administration Committee, joined the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), members of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, and his fellow co-authors of the bipartisan Help America Vote Act, at a press conference on Capitol Hill this morning to help launch National Voter Registration Week.  Recent census figures show that only sixty percent of Americans who were eligible to vote in 2000 actually cast a ballot, and NASS is sponsoring National Voter Registration Week in order to encourage more Americans to register to vote. 

“One of the most important goals of HAVA was to not only make it easier to vote and harder to cheat, but to raise awareness among our citizens and get more of them to vote on Election Day,” Ney said.  “Particularly at a time when the men and women in our military are putting their lives on the line in defending our freedom in the war against terrorism, I believe the very least we as citizens can do is to take a few moments to register and vote on November 2nd.  We owe it to them and we owe it to the thousands of soldiers who have gone before them and given their lives defending our freedom.”

“This is a message that we need to especially impress on our young people who are consistently among the least likely to vote.  I have been very pleased to work with groups like the WWE and others who are specifically targeting this problem and registering thousands of new, young voters. The bottom line is that registering to vote is not a partisan issue.  I don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democrat, as long as you exercise your right as a citizen and go to the polls on November 2nd,” Ney concluded.