At colleges they deliver voter registration forms or online registration instructions to those who need them. For registered voters living away from their precincts, they have details on absentee voting. And by the time of the presidential election in 1996, voter participation was down to 32 percent for young people. Two years ago, less than 20 percent of the people in that age range cast a ballot. One reason for the small youth turnout in 1998 might have been because there was not a presidential election.
Many voters go to the polls only for national elections.
But whatever the reason, the three bikers want to stop those slipping statistics. On the trail Bruder and his partners started their trip September 15 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and will end it on Election Day, November 7, just south of San Diego, California, at the border between the United States and Mexico. The trio travels 50 to 60 miles each day, with two on their bikes and one following in a car with registration forms and election-related material. They include high schools on their journey, even though most of the students will not be old enough to vote. Goldberg said their purpose at high schools is to psych the students up for voting by helping them realize that participation in the electoral process determines their fate.