League of Young Voters
There are two main organisations with the name of "The League of Young Voters", in the U.S. and in Europe.
The League of Young Voters U.S.
The First, based in the U.S., also known as the League of Pissed Off Voters, is a national advocacy organization in the U.S. which organizes progressive voter guides and voter blocs nationwide, particularly geared towards the 18-34 age group. The League of Young Voters was formerly known as the League of Independent Voters.
The League has strong connections to other youth-oriented political organizations and events, such as the League of Young Voters Education Fund, United Students Against Sweatshops, Music For America, and the National Hip Hop Political Convention. These connections prompted the Village Voice to call the coalition "a lively, iconoclastic, music-aware national group."
During the 2004 election, The League worked with America Votes, a coalition of liberal organizations such as America Coming Together, the AFL-CIO and the League of Conservation Voters .
Since then the League has grown and strengthened its local groups across the nation, undergone a strategic reorganization, and thrown its weight into various local races in the 2005 election season.
In 2006, the League launched a voting resource website - theballot.org - where anyone can find, create or share voters' guides. The 2008 presidential election saw record youth voter turnout, and the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division hopes to inspire similar levels of participation in the 2012 Fall election through its new American Voter effort. American Voter, which kicked off in September 2012, is the division’s nonpartisan public-service campaign dedicated to educating current and future voters about the history of voting rights in the United States and the importance of exercising the right to vote.
The San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters is a local progressive political organization that makes voter guides for San Francisco elections.
The League of Young Voters in Europe
The League of Young Voters in Europe was launched on 30 May 2013 on the Esplanade of the European Parliament in Brussels, in the presence of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands. An initiative of the European Youth Forum, the League of Young Voters in Europe aims to tackle the ever decreasing youth participation at the European Parliament elections by increasing the level of youth-related information available about the elections, but also by encouraging political parties and candidates to directly target young people in their campaigns.
It aims to become the electoral platform for young people in Europe. The League will exist at “European level”, covering European political parties, but will also exist nationally in the national language, aided by the European Youth Forum’s extensive membership.
References
- Defeat Bush: The Guide 2004 Village Voice article on groups that at that time were working in opposition to the reelection of George W. Bush.
- San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters
- League of Young Voters in Europe website
- European Youth Forum website