What is it?
Voter Education, Registration, and Action campaign 2004 (VERA 04) is a nonpartisan effort aimed at adult literacy learners and program staff in the New England states. Its goal is to educate adult learners about voting and the topical electoral issues, and mobilize them to vote in the 2004 elections. VERA is sponsored by the New England Literacy Resource Center (NELRC) at World Education.

Why should you join?
Voting is one of our most basic civil rights and responsibilities. Yet, barely one half (51.3%) of voting age adults voted in the 2000 United States presidential elections (Federal Election Commission, 2003). The United States voting rates are among the lowest of any democracy in the world. We should not allow another presidential election to go by with only one half of the voting age population bothering to go to the polls.

Studies show that the less education a person has, the less likely s/he is to vote. Yet, adult learners' well-being is profoundly affected by the outcomes of current public policy debates. Adult educators need to help learners to understand their self-interest, and to see that their vote does count. The 2004 elections are a teachable moment with high stakes outcomes for low-income people in the United States.

What does it involve?
Joining VERA means making a commitment to:

• teach about representative democracy, voting, and topical election issues
• encourage and help eligible students and staff register to vote, get to the polls and vote
• encourage noneligible students to talk to family members and friends who can vote
• track how many students voted and how many voted for the first time
• submit a brief report to NELRC due November 30, 2004

What kind of support is provided?

• Five copies of the March 2004 issue of The Change Agent focused entirely on voting in the 2004 elections for each class signed on to the campaign
• Workshops for teachers who want to maximize use of The Change Agent resource (contact your regional SABES center for times and locations of workshops)
• Support from state task forces in New England set up to help coordinate campaigns and connect participants with partner organizations
• Web links to useful resources and organizations

Join VERA!
Go to www.nelrc.org/vera or call Silja Kallenbach at 617-482-9485.

Silja Kallenbach is the Coordinator of the New England Literacy Resource Center (NELRC). She may be reached by e-mail at skallenbach@worlded.org or by phone at 617-482-9485.