Fresno youths celebrate a day of civic action with get out the vote event

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Young people ages 15-34 arrived bright and early Saturday on Tulare Street to prepare for a day of canvassing and phone calls encouraging Fresno County residents to get out the vote.

The California primary election is Tuesday. Voter turnout from 18- to 29-year-olds went from 20% in 2014 to 36% in 2018, according to U.S. Census data.

This is the largest percentage point increase for any age group. The youths present Saturday are hoping voter turnout for that age range will be even higher in 2020.

Youths are informing community members about registering to vote, getting counted on the census and advocating for the reclaiming of $12 billion from corporations by adding Schools and Communities First on the November ballot.

If the measure makes the ballot, it would give voters the opportunity to update Proposition 13 and require corporations to pay their “fair share” on property taxes, proponents of the initiative say.

“It’s important for me to see my peers registered to vote because we’re a large population and I think if all of us came together and made our voices heard, we can all show that we’re serious,” Jonathan Rosa said.

Rosa will be a first-time voter during the November election. He is 17 years old and will be canvassing around Fresno. He first became interested in civic engagement during his junior year of high school.

According to a Pew Research study, Generation X, millennials and Generation Z collectively cast 62.2 million votes in 2018, which is more than the previous population of baby boomers that same year.

“Many of the young people we work with, they are first-generation voters,” said Crisantema Gallardo, 99Rootz-Power California director. “They come from struggles of having parents that are farm workers. They’re living in communities that don’t have access to drinking water.”

Gallardo says many youths present at the rally are the first in their families eligible to vote. “My parents were hyping me up, they were telling me, ‘You’re voting, but you’re voting for all of us.’ They are representing their families and their entire communities.”

“From our perspective, today is a day of civic action,” said Adriana Saldivar with the Latino Community Foundation, a statewide foundation based in San Francisco.

This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 6:28 PM.