A Big Push for Voter Turnout

Kholood Eid

By Philip Lentz

Jack Kott, a retired teacher and AARP New York volunteer coordinator on Long Island, is on a mission this fall to increase turnout among voters 50-plus.

“We have to wake people up, especially in an off-year election,” said Kott, 74. “More than a million older voters didn’t vote in the last midterms in New York alone,” he noted. “Those million-plus votes can be the difference in whether Social Security is continued and in saving Medicare. We have to stop being a silent majority and be a vocal majority.”

To generate turnout among voters 50-plus, Kott is part of an army of AARP volunteers distributing voter pledge cards at events across New York this fall.

According to federal figures, the total number of voters age 50 and older statewide was 1.2 million fewer in the 2014 midterms than in 2016, a presidential year (or 2,944,704 in 2014, compared with 4,169,580 in 2016).

“You can be the difference if you vote,” said Joe Stelling, associate state director of advocacy for AARP New York. “Historically, there is a huge drop-off in midterm elections, which means a lot of potential to boost voter turnout this year. We want to remind the 50-plus voters that they play a huge role and their vote is so important.”

AARP New York is offering video voter guides (which will include filmed interviews with candidates), telephone town halls, forums and debates. The organization also plans to conduct polls to draw attention to issues important to older voters.

For more information or to get involved, go to aarp.org/ny, under “Categories” and then “Voters.”

AARP volunteers and staff are attending dozens of public events statewide, from the State Fair in Syracuse to local cultural events, to hand out pledge cards that commit 50-plus New Yorkers to vote this fall.

Volunteers reaching out
New Yorkers 50 and older represent 34 percent of the population and one of the largest blocs of voters.

In this year’s U.S. Senate race, Democratic incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand, 51, faces Republican businesswoman Chele Farley, also 51. Several congressional races in the state are considered toss-ups, and the outcomes could help determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives next year.

Volunteers are reaching out to candidates in each of the state’s 27 congressional races to press them to support AARP’s national priorities, which include giving family caregivers more support, lowering prescription drug prices, and protecting and strengthening Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

New Yorkers will also elect a governor and other executive officers. The key battleground is the state Senate, which Republicans control by just one vote.

AARP’s state priorities include policies to help keep older New Yorkers from leaving the state, user-friendly and affordable transportation options, a tax credit for family caregivers and funding for programs to enable residents to age in place.

AARP is nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates.

“I’m a first-generation American,” Kott said. “The appreciation of what this country has given us has to be carried on. You have to participate in it. So voting is important. It allows me to say, ‘I’m happy with what’s going on’ or ‘I’m not happy with what’s going on.’ And how I express that is by voting.”

Philip Lentz is a writer living in New York City.