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Getting Out The Vote: Madison Kirkpatrick, Maryland

As told by Madison Kirkpatrick
Cumberland, Maryland

Story Narrative:

Madison has long, straight dark hair and bright, red lipstick. She sits in front of a print of Starry Night by Van Gogh.

This snapshot was gathered in conjunction with the Maryland Voices initiative at Maryland Humanities, specifically to supplement the "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program. This collection, made up of stories of first-time voters between the ages of 18 and 24, showcases the experiences of young people as they wrestled with the 2020 presidential election, issues around social justice, the environment, immigration, and the pandemic. 

Madison Kirkpatrick (00:01): Okay. I'm Madison Kirk Patrick. I'm 18-years-old, and I go to Allegany College of Maryland here in Cumberland, Maryland. You know something that I saw a lot this election was a lot of people my age were helping people get registered and finding their voting polls. Definitely spreading education and awareness.

Madison Kirkpatrick (00:20): I feel like I saw that so, so, so much this election, definitely people really helping each other figure out how to vote and understand the process. And I definitely feel like voter education was very prominent this election in this town.

Madison Kirkpatrick (00:36): I definitely think a lot of new people were registered because I looked at the statistics and there was the biggest voter turnout ever in my community. There was a lot of people my age that I helped get registered myself that I talked to about them getting registered, a lot of new people and family members and just a lot of people voting for the first time. It was definitely a good experience.


Asset ID: 2021.03.12.f
Themes: Voting, Gen Z, voter registration, get out the vote, voting rights, elections, activism
Date recorded: January 29, 2021
Length of recording: 01:02 m
Related traveling exhibition: Voices and Votes: Democracy in America
Sponsor or affiliated organization: Allegany Museum, in partnership with Maryland Humanities
More informationhttps://www.mdhumanities.org/programs/museum-on-main-street/2021-2022-tour/

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