Dear Student, Welcome to the official website, www.westga.edu/~wecount, of the University of West Georgia’s Vote American Democracy Project of the American Association of State Collges and Universities. This site is created to assist you in becoming more involved and informed about the critical issues and persons in the American political process. As you know, college students in the last thirty years have become the most uninvolved group in America; as a result, many social scholars have often referred to you and your peers as “generation X”. The “X” denotes no identity, no values, no purpose, and no involvement. This lack of involvement is seen clearly in the area of voting. Voting, as has been mentioned by many scholars, is the easiest way to participate in the American political process; however, college students have still tended not to participate.

Did you know that the 2000 elections had the lowest youth, 18-24 years of age, voter turn out in presidential elections since 1972, or that George Bush beat Al Gore in Florida by less than 600 votes? Your vote really does count. The problem is particularly glaring in nonpresidential elections. For instance, in 2002, a year after one of the most devastating points in American history —9/11/01— less 15% of young people voted. According to college students at West Georgia, the primary reasons for not voting--range from lack of interest to lack of trust in the political system; yet, it was discovered that their disconnect was linked to their lack of knowledge about the issues or candidate(s) running for public office. This is just what this website does. It provides you needed voter information so that you will be informed. In 2004, the year we launched our voter campaign in earnest, we registered over 2,000 students from the university to vote in Carroll County. The most for a public university that year. “We Count” is a nonpartisan initiative of the University of West Georgia, in partnership with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities' American Democracy Project, Carroll County Voter Election Office and the Secretary of State’s Office, which seeks to inform all of our students about the importance of government, voting, and political issues. Regardless of your political belief—conservative, liberal, green, moderate, etc or political party—Democrat, Independent, Libertarian, Republican, etc, the University of West Georgia wants everyone to be active participants in our democracy. We encourage you to explore all areas of this site, particularly the Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ) as well as the other related web links. Afterwards, we ask that you fill out a short evaluation form about civic engagement in America. Thanks for choosing to make our democracy real. Remember that by voting, we all count. If I can be of any assistance, please contact me at 678/839-4997 or ssewell@westga.edu. Sincerely, Professor Said Sewell, Ph. D. Associate Professor of Political Science/Planning and UWG Voter Registrar

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