New
Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey
was joined by more than 100 Atlantic County
seniors to tape a 30 second Public Service
Announcement (PSA) to encourage senior
citizens to register and vote. The meeting
and taping took place at the Atlantic
Adult Day Healthcare facility in Northfield,
New Jersey. Also participating in the
taping were Northfield Mayor Frank Perri,
Jr. and Marilyn Askin, President of the
New Jersey AARP.
Prior
to the taping the Attorney General led
a brief program to thank Atlantic County
seniors, the Atlantic Day Healthcare administrators
and staff and others for participating
in the “BE POWERFUL, BE HEARD”
campaign to raise voter awareness and
encourage seniors to register and vote.
The PSA will be archived and shown on
New Jersey Network, cable and location
television stations across the state.
Harvey
said, “Participating in the electoral
process in person or through absentee
ballot is as important to seniors as it
is to any other group in the state.”
Harvey continued, “Through the Help
America Vote Act we created the “Be
Powerful, Be Heard” Vote New Jersey
initiative and have over the past year
significantly increased voter awareness,
resulting in a record number of registered
voters – more than 460,000 bringing
New Jersey’s number of registered
voters to more than five million for the
first time in state history.”
Today’s
program is part of the Help America Vote
Act (HAVA) of 2002, a federal law providing
for federal monies to assist states in
upgrading voting equipment, election procedures
and education and outreach. Through HAVA,
the Office of the Attorney General has
sponsored a number of outreach initiatives
designed to educate New Jerseyans about
the importance of voting and voter registration.
PSA’s
have also included actors and sports figures,
all with a New Jersey connection, including
actors Michael Douglas, Jason Alexander
and Billy Baldwin; and entertainer Queen
Latifah and football players from the
Giants, Jeremiah Trotter of the Philadelphia
Eagles and Kenny Anderson, formerly of
the New Jersey Nets.
A
special PSA was done in May with officers
and members of New Jersey’s National
Guard. The PSA is being shown in military
bases across the world for the nearly
3,000 members stationed overseas. The
kickoff program included New Jersey Brigadier
General and Deputy Adjutant General Maria
Falca-Dodson, Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson
Coleman, Assemblywoman Linda R. Greenstein,
Lawrence Township Mayor Pamela Mount and
actor Joe Piscopo.
“BE
POWERFUL, BE HEARD” is the public
outreach component and slogan of New Jersey’s
voter education initiative and includes
PSA’s, college bus tours, concerts
and other voter registration and get out
the vote efforts. The Attorney General,
“This initiative is a comprehensive
approach to voter education and voting.
We have an enormous challenge and opportunity
to raise awareness and educate New Jersey
residents about the power of the vote.”
The
General Election will be held on Tuesday,
November 8. The registration deadline
for the General Election is Tuesday, October
11. People can apply for absentee ballots
by mail up to seven days in advance of
Election Day and in person until 3 p.m.
the Monday before Election Day. For more
information about voting, visit www.NJElections.org
or call 1-800-NJ-VOTER
(1-877-658-6837).