Politics is interested in you,
The Student Voter Registration Drive has brought voter registration accessibility to Frederick Community College for years. However, the organization aims to encourage civic dialogue and engagement.
Right now, the last opportunity to consult the Student Voter Registration Drive’s resources for the 2024-2025 election season is 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 15 the Student Center.
In lieu of an election year, “Civics must be vital,” said Richard Kaplowitz, an activist and is the catalyst in organizing, planning and executing the Student Voter Drive initiative. Kaplowitz has been doing civics work since he was in high school.
“I was head of students for Humphrey in 1968, I have been canvassing and working for political candidates going back to 1976 as a state delegate in Virginia for Jimmy Carter, and I had a fellowship with Organizing for America—and the project I chose was; voter registration,” he said.
His work began at Frederick Community College when he noticed a lack of engagement among the ambassadors running the same drive years ago. He is a secretary for Frederick Progressives, district captain for Jews United for Justice, and a citizen lobbyist.
According to Kaplowitz, in the six years he has been involved in the initiative, he has registered between 750 and 1,000 young minds.
“On the first day of the fall semester, I set a record when I registered 55 students,”he said. “So far this year, I have registered 150 students.” This creates a successful initiative with the organic goal of registering Generation Z in a growing educational institution.
Kaplowitz believes registering to vote and knowing your options is the first step to being the change you want to see.
“My generation (Generation X,. I’m sorry, has screwed the world, And we have politicians running who don’t believe in climate change, who think that books have to be banned. They’re more worried about drag queens and books than they are about the guns being brought into the schools, they’re not willing to protect our youth, they’re not willing to help get rid of student debt, they’re not willing to do common sense restrictions of guns, not banning guns, but common sense restrictions,” he said. “It’s up to the younger generation that is going to inherit a world that is too hot and too wet to live in, to make and force the changes that must happen if we are going to save the planet. “
Kaplowitz said there are different ways to sign up to vote.
“I offer multiple ways. I can do it on paper, or I can do it with a QR code.The QR is good to use in 46 states—so I do not care if you are a Maryland resident or not,” Kaplowitz said. “If you are, the college has a banner with a QR code that will take you directly to the Maryland voter registration site for the Maryland Board of Elections. Including a guide with more than 19,000 candidates and what they stand for.”
The guides consist of a sort of policy standardized test.
“They ask the same questions to multiple candidates of multiple parties. “It lets you become an informed voter,” he said.
Kaplowitz said there are several reasons why people aren’t as engaged.
“We stopped doing civics education. We stopped giving them reasons to vote. Many don’t understand that they may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in them,” he said.
Kaplowitz furthered his point when he said, “If you’re not making a decision as to who is representing you, you are making a decision to say to those in power, you don’t care.”
The bottom line, Kaplowitz said, is civility.
“I have some Republican friends, and we’re able to agree to disagree without being disagreeable, he said. “There are ways that you can talk, and you can learn how to talk to others, and you can do that without reaching the boiling point.”
