COLUMBIA, South Carolina - U.S. Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) will join a town hall-style forum with young voters hosted and moderated by the Student Association for Voter Empowerment (SAVE) on January 25 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in Columbia, South Carolina.
The event is open to the public at 12:30 pm this Friday in the Lexington Room at the Convention Center. In light of the remarkable youth turnout in both the Iowa and New Hampshire Primaries, the forum will focus on the importance of young voters, civic participation, and ensuring higher education access-among other topics.
Edwards will also answer questions on any issue from an audience composed mostly of University of South Carolina students and College Democrats.
The event will mark the second in a series that SAVE is hosting with Democratic and Republican Presidential Candidates. "The gap between politicians and young people is too wide," said Matthew Segal, the executive director of SAVE. "The purpose of our forum is to show politicians that young people care and to show young people that politicians are accessible and listening. I am pleased that John Edwards recognizes that youth are a crucial component of the electorate who require the same respect, attention and consideration that older voting blocs receive."
SAVE is a student-led nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with chapters currently on 23 college campuses, founded to increase voter turnout, remove access barriers, and promote stronger civic education. In addition to advocating policy changes to enhance traditional get-out-the-vote efforts, SAVE works with community leaders, high school teachers, college faculty, state and federal legislators, and fellow students to strengthen the commitment in their communities for political dialogue and institutionalize voter awareness and active civic engagement. More information about SAVE can be found at http://www.savevoting.org/.
Contact: Matthew Segal, SAVE executive director, 847.502.5012, matthew.segal@savevoting.org