CHICAGO -- While they can't legally cast a ballot themselves yet, dozens of Illinois high school students are working to ensure that people of voting age understand the importance of their civic duty.
As part of the WOKE Project, roughly 130 young people from three Chicago-area high schools are working the phones and pounding pavement to offer nonpartisan election information to eligible voters.
Jasmine Roach, 17, a junior at Prosser Career Academy, said the work they're doing is very important to her, personally.
"I get to vote next year, so I learn a lot through this program," she said. "It helped me learn about the politics, what's going on with the election, what can we do to get our voices heard, especially in the Black and Brown community."
Following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID-19 guidelines, some students are manning a phone bank tonight while others will drop off literature in person. The WOKE Project, which stands for "Working On Knowledge and Equity", brings together educators and students of color for learning beyond the classroom, with a focus on direct engagement in their communities. Thirteen civics classes are part of this week's get-out-the vote effort.
As a junior at Roosevelt High School, Alexandra Moreno, 16, said she enjoys the outreach work and believes the main point of voting is to make communities better.
"I thought it was important for our communities to be more safe, be united, to be more positive," she said. "It's kind of dangerous right now, but that's why we need to vote -- to make power, to make our community safe."
Roach said the WOKE Project helps support young people in the community who are struggling and can feel they have nowhere else to turn.
"They have programs where you can go if your mental health is not OK," she said. "If you don't have money for food, they help out with that. If you need help with homework, they help you with that, they get you tutors."
The WOKE Project is a partnership between Voices of Youth in Chicago Education and Communities United.
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The Republican National Convention is underway in Milwaukee and the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump is a focal point.
Voters and academics also wonder how democracy is being defined amid turbulent political times. There have been calls from both parties to tone down the rhetoric after the weekend shooting. But there is still finger-pointing, with Trump supporters saying he has been "demonized" by those who say he is a threat to democracy. And in condemning violence, many Democrats said Trump has contributed to the hostile environment himself.
Mary Anderson, a voter from Arbor Vitae in northern Wisconsin, agrees the mood has grown overly toxic.
"There's no compromise. No one can talk to one another," Anderson observed. "It's just so polarized and it's getting worse."
Anderson, who has had family members vote Republican, does not like Trump's overall tone, saying he is too focused on grudges. She worries how the Project 2025 plan written by allies in his circle would affect women's civil rights. Trump has tried to distance himself from the plan.
Political scientists said the democracy debate is in a deep stalemate because voters no longer have a shared vision of how it should function.
Mindy Romero, director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at the University of Southern California, said it was not always the case. She pointed out voters used to largely agree on upholding democratic institutions in the same way. But she noted people have become disillusioned about politics, leading to more extreme actions in influencing the election process.
"We're at a state right now that even the word 'democracy' means different things, clearly, to different sets of Americans," Romero pointed out.
She explained the shift has led to different voting laws, intimidation at polling sites and, in some cases, violence. To restore healthy debate, she encouraged people to research information from nonpartisan civic engagement centers and secretaries of state. In the end, she added politicians take cues from voters who have yet to fully show they are ready to move on from the current environment.
"Every campaign and set of advisers and political strategists are always thinking about what can they do to win," Romero stressed.
In pursuit of election success, she argued a larger group of politicians will have to strongly disavow hateful ideology, leaving voters with different messaging to latch onto. Romero is part of a group of bipartisan election administrators, scholars and others releasing a new letter demanding less violent rhetoric.
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As the party announced Monday Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, is the vice presidential candidate on the GOP ticket, progressive groups said they are concerned about Senator Vance's voting record and how his decisions have affected the state's working class.
Vance is a venture capitalist with investments in the health care industry.
Desiree Tims, president and CEO of Innovation Ohio, listed Vance's support for a national abortion ban, major corporations, and said some of his health care stances are "concerning."
"While I understand it may be very exciting for our Republican friends on the other side of the aisle, I think the public at large should be concerned and really paying attention to Senator Vance's record -- albeit brief -- in the U.S. Senate, but impactful nonetheless," Tims emphasized.
Vance opposes gender-affirming care for minors and supports denying health coverage to immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. Vance, 39, who has been in the U.S. Senate for a year-and-a-half, was announced as Trump's 2024 running mate on Monday afternoon at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Tims stressed now is the time for Ohio voters to educate themselves on the issues and register to vote. So far, more than 2.5 million people have been purged from the state's voter rolls. She noted Ohioans will see likely see a measure on the ballot this fall to reform the state's redistricting process, including replacing Ohio's Redistricting Commission with a voter-elected independent body.
"That's yet another opportunity for Ohioans to weigh in on direct democracy," Tims urged. "And participate on how they want districts to be managed and drawn in this state."
Tims added the last couple of days have been somber and sad for the nation, as well as a call to tone down political rhetoric, as more innocent lives were lost to gun violence.
"The assassination attempt on Donald Trump was certainly scary for folks in attendance and folks watching," Tims acknowledged. "And really just has no place in our democracy, especially when we're talking about political violence."
Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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Gov. Spencer Cox is calling for unity as well as the condemnation of political violence in light of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump over the weekend.
Cox has chaired the National Governors Association and led its "Disagree Better" initiative, which examines the issues surrounding political polarization in the country, while also looking to cultivate solutions and a culture of respect and civility.
On Sunday, Cox took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share his closing statements from the association's recent summer meeting. He said he found his sentiments to be more important and relevant following Saturday's shooting tragedy.
"We can make this a better place," Cox insisted. "We can love each other again. We can disagree without hating each other. We can have passionate debates, and we do."
Cox is among one of many political leaders now calling for unity and for the heated political rhetoric to subside. President Joe Biden described the violence that took place on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, as "sick" and said everyone must condemn the attack.
Political violence experts around the country say it is paramount for elected officials and leaders to continue to make calls for the de-escalation of the charged political rhetoric and climate the country currently finds itself in.
Recent studies show while Americans are less ideologically polarized than they perceive themselves to be, they are more "emotionally polarized," which means they hold a strong dislike for members of the other party.
Cox acknowledged while the U.S. is deeply divided, most Americans are tired and want to change but change will not be easy.
"I feel like in our country today, we have gotten really, really good at tearing things down and people down and institutions down and parties down," Cox stressed. "Building is hard."
In his remarks, Cox noted he is not optimistic about the future of the U.S., but hopeful. He added there is no guarantee the country will inevitably improve itself, even going as far as saying nothing keeps another civil war from happening. But he added he is thankful to many political leaders and organizations willing to build camaraderie and continue fighting against toxic political polarization.
Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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