There is a saying in Korea that elections are the flower of democracy. It shows how important it is to vote in elections in a democratic society. Nsé Ufot, in charge of the New Georgia Project (NGP) since 2014, is a contributing figure to Georgia’s increased turnout.
In the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Georgia had its highest turnout in state history, with a 67.7% voting rate. In addition, more than 4 million people voted in the Georgia Senate runoff in January 2021, which is 260,000 more voters than the 2016 presidential election. It was Nsé Ufot who contributed to this phenomenon. Nsé is the head of the NGP, an organization that encourages voter registration and civic participation, and is making efforts to promote voting participation. Georgia has had a population growth rate of 18% over the past decade, most of which is taken up by the New American Majority (NAM), which consists of people of color, people between the ages of 18 and 29, or single women. To vote in the United States, one must first register in the state where you live, except for North Dakota. However, according to the NGP, only 53% of NAMs, who account for 62% of Georgia's total population, are registered voters. Up till now, they have not voted for various reasons, such as thinking that their votes are not significant, distrust in the election system, or not being interested in politics. Nsé is making efforts to register these unregistered voters in ways like counseling on the importance of voting and running programs like the 'postcard program[1]'. In addition, she said that the reason why young people do not vote is because of the unfamiliar voting system. So, she hosted numerous events on the Internet streaming site Twitch and raised interest in voting among young people in Georgia. According to the University of Tufts' CIRCLE[2], young voters contributed to 21% of Georgia's total vote, the nationwide youth participation rate averages only 17%. Nsé says one of the NGP's ultimate goals is to foster so-called "super voters" who participate in all eligible votes.
As we can see, Nsé is contributing to increase the voting rates by carrying out various projects to spread the importance of voting and encourage participation. Did you participate in the by-elections held on April 7th? If you did, good for you! If you did not, let's look at Nsé’s efforts and be reminded of the importance of voting and cast a precious vote in the upcoming elections!