Columbia S.C – With more than eight million new eligible voters this year, one local DJ and organization are coming together to get young voters registered in the upcoming election.
Known as DJ Zay Pola, Isiah Fields is the mastermind behind the Darty to the Polls event that took place in Five Points on Harden Street.
“I have a large platform and I would love to use my platform to go ahead and get people registered to vote,” said Fields.
He partnered with “Be the Ones” a non-partisan organization to help get young voters registered, and give them the opportunity to meet with local representatives.
State representative Jermaine Johnson was there and expressed how he wants to inform the youth about what is happening in politics.
“A lot of the times many young people have not met an elected person before and I like to go ahead and give them the real the raw and the truth and talk to them about everything that is going on in politics,” said Johnson.
People in attendance, like Isabella Troybrazoban, were able to talk with representatives and register to vote.
Troybrazoban stated, “When it comes to voting it is your fundamental right as an American citizen and you should 110 percent take advantage of that and express your right to advocate for yourself”
With the deadline to register only being a week from now, Fields hopes that this event will help inform more people how to vote.
Cate Mayer is the founder of “Be the Ones” and she believes the power is in the hands of young people.
“So often we say young people are the future they’re not the future they are now and if we give them the tools the resources and the power… the possibilities are endless for us,” said Mayer.
Mayer also believes the Darty to the Polls event is a good blueprint of how civic participation and getting young people involved can happen.
This event is just one of 30 that “Be the ones” had this month.
Fields plans to continue to have events like this.
“I am going to be partnering with other organizations in the future especially for this election because the last day to register to vote is October 7, but we can still get people informed on how to vote,” said Fields.
If you plan to vote in this upcoming election, go to scvotes.gov to get registered.
