Salisbury Kwanzaa Club hosts mock voting event, push to get youth interested in voting

DELMARVA – “Who doesn’t like pizza?” Marshall said.  That question led Demetria Marshall with the Salisbury Kwanzaa Club to think of ways to get youth excited about voting. The group hosted their first-ever mock voting event Tuesday evening at the Truitt Community Center in Salisbury. “What we did is name the pizza, put a face on it, and put them up as candidates,” Marshall said.

Although the stakes weren’t as high as an actual election, the event falls on National Voter Registration Day which Marshall says was the perfect time to open up the conversation. “It is important that they get engaged in the process of voting and they learn early,” she said.

Bo McDowell with the Sussex County Board of Elections said they’ve also seen the trend of low turnout with younger voters. He hopes that recent legislation passed for automatic voter registration can change that narrative. “When they receive their license, they’ll automatically be enrolled to vote on election day in Delaware,” Mc Dowell said.

McDowell added that they saw a record breaking 68% of voters participated in the 2020 General Election. That number took a slight dip for the 2022 mid-terms, but with their outreach efforts McDowell believes things are on the incline. “Overall, people are signing up and registering. I expect a really big turnout next year for the 2024 Presidential election,” he said.

Marshall hopes youth walk away knowing how important their voice and vote is. “We want the youth to be involved. We want to hear from them. Its mandatory that we hear from them,” she said.

The Wicomico County Board of Elections also assisted and provided information on what the voting process entails. Voter registration was also available on sight.

The child who guessed the closest percentage of votes won a pizza party for their school class from Maybella’s Pizza.

The Sussex County Board of Elections also wants you to know that registering doesn’t just happen today.
You can visit their office or to their website