On September 30th 2020, RBAC hosted a virtual Civil Engagement Town Hall, co-hosted by Mr. Davis and Hani Ahmed. This town hall featured State Senator Rebecca Saldaña, King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay and Seattle City Councilmember Tammy Morales. Other special guests included Joseph Lachman (Policy Analyst at Asian Counseling Referral Service), and Bre Weider (Political Director at Sage Leaders).

This was an opportunity for YATTA’s to learn and engage more in the voting process. Everyone on the call emphasized the importance of young people voting.

Tammy Morales encouraged the youth to cast their votes in all elections. She also detailed how to register to vote, which you can do online or in person. In order to register online you need a license, ID, or permit. If you don’t have those you can still registered to vote by mail or in person. 

If you’re 16 or 17 you can pre-register to vote in WA state. 

“The vote of young people is critical. It is here in the city for municipal elections, but especially right now. In the Seattle area young people under 35 represent a much larger share of the electorate than say people who are 65 and over.”   

Girmay Zahilay echoed Tammy Morales’ call not to lose hope. We have to turn out and vote!  “Voting is not the only answer… voting is one item in our toolkit of things we do to create change.” Organizing, advocacy, attending council meetings, reaching out to local officials are more items in the toolkit to create change.

Bre Weider added that voting is important to her because of the lack of representation in political spaces. “We need people who are allies, and people who are representative of our community into office.”

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