Rock The Vote President Denounces Fox Hosts' Declaration That Youth Shouldn't Vote

Rock The Vote President Ashley Spillane: “We Should Be Encouraging Everyone In This Country To Have Their Voice Heard”

Written by Thomas Bishop

Published

Rock The Vote president Ashley Spillane responded to Fox News hosts' criticism of the campaign encouraging young people to vote, saying the hosts' declaration that they don't want young people to vote if they “don't know the issues,” is “crazy.”

During the October 8 edition of Fox News' Outnumbered, co-hosts Kennedy and Harris Faulkner chided the Rock The Vote "#TurnOutForWhat" campaign aimed at motivating young people to vote in the 2014 midterm elections “for the issues that matter to them.” Faulkner claimed the campaign “is about kids getting high, getting drunk,” and asked “do you really want to motivate them to vote and be ignorant at the polls?” Kennedy agreed saying “no” she didn't want young people to vote if they don't know the issues.

On October 9, Spillane responded on HuffPost Live, calling the view that young people shouldn't vote “crazy.” She further explained that their comments exemplified a “problematic take on youth voting in American media”:

“Almost everything I watch is about how young people aren't participating or shouldn't participate, and that's just crazy,” she said. “We should be encouraging everyone in this country to have their voice heard and to cast a ballot, regardless of what position they take on a certain issue.”

Instead, Spillane says this generation -- the biggest and most diverse in history -- is in fact incredibly passionate about their causes but lacks faith in the government to act on their behalf.

“Frustration with the current situation is not indicative of lack of information,” she said. “This is a very passionate and informed generation that just happens to think solving problems can be done outside of government, and what we need to do is change that. We need to make sure that we can actually meet the needs of young people and solve problems that they're facing within the government.”

Discouraging voting isn't new for Fox News; the network has long supported discriminatory voting laws and stringent ;voter ID legislation that disproportionately affect minorities and young people.