Sports figures to kick off voter registration drive

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletic Director Steve Pederson and university athletes representing several sports will talk at a 10:30 a.m. Oct. 8 news conference about why it is important to vote. The news conference will be held in the Georgian Suite of the Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Voter registration will be available 9 a.m. to noon on the first floor of the Union.

In the 2000 presidential election only 45 percent of eligible voters nationwide cast a ballot. Voter turnout in Nebraska that year was 65.2 percent. However, voter turnout for Nebraska voters ages 18-24 was only 37 percent.

The Get Out the Vote Coalition is putting on the events, titled Voters Across Nebraska. The coalition is primarily comprised of The League of Women Voters, Nebraska Business and Professional Women, American Association of University Women, the National Organization for Women, and the Nebraska Commission on the Status of Women.

Voter registration drives will also be held at the following venues on Oct. 9:

Levi Carter Park, 4405 Carter Lakeshore Drive, Omaha, 9 a.m. to noon. Contact Erin Sullivan, (402) 551-7230 or Mary Fraser Meints (402) 290-4167.

Farmers Market at the Haymarket, 8th and Q streets area, Lincoln, 8 a.m. to noon. Contact Bridget Christiansen, (402) 617-0446.

University of Nebraska at Kearney Student Center, 905 W. 25th St., 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Contact Michelle Roggasch, (308) 236-9450.

Fairbury, 15th and K streets, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Contact Michelle Holliday, (402) 300-0402.

CONTACTS: Mary Fraser Meints, Get Out the Vote Coalition, (402) 290-4167; and
Karren Kerr, Get Out the Vote Coalition, (402) 556-4964