Rock the Vote (In Poland)

Mostly this blog covers domestic issues, but it is worth noting that the trends we are seeing here in the United States among Millennials - higher voting rates and civic mindedness - are not just American occurrences. Check out this story from the International Herald Tribune on young people in Poland who have boostrapped their own "Rock the Vote" youth campaign into existence:

The latest opinion polls show Civic Platform, a free-market, pro-European rival party, poised to win the election Sunday. But polls here have proved highly unreliable, skewed by the country's historically lethargic turnout, which was a little over 40 percent in the elections two years ago.

Young Internet-savvy Poles are fighting that lethargy, and at the same time the image of their country as populated by angry old villagers rather than the urbane hipsters and flush young businesspeople who can be found in cafés and clubs around the nation's booming capital.

Just as we're seeing here in the states, this was a completely volunteer campaign, bootstrapped into existence by young people working with zero budget. Now it's starting to make waves:

Dwurnik's posters brought her to the attention of the young women behind the Web site Wyberiam.pl , the word means "to choose" in Polish. They asked her to design "I voted" buttons for their campaign, which is run out of the basement of Chlodna 25, a smoky café and bar where they share space in the basement with DJ parties.

Wyberiam's organizers said it operates on essentially no budget. They were making the buttons themselves with an old hand-operated machine. They rely on donated services, whether that means printing their fliers or airtime for their televised advertisements with celebrities asking people to vote.

Kasia Szajewska, one of the group's founders, said it was surprisingly easy to persuade the Polish MTV channel to run their ads. "In the States you have Rock the Vote. They're really happy to have something similar," she said.

These kids are smart and savvy. Not only are their PSA's airing on the local MTV, they're also using text messaging to drive up interest and turn out the youth vote:

WARSAW: The text message spread with viral speed among the cellphones of Polish youths. With national parliamentary elections coming up Sunday, kids had a clear mission: "Steal your grandmother's ID," the text jokingly implored.

It referred to the conventional wisdom here that conservative older women put the ruling Law and Justice Party and the Kaczynski brothers - the famous twins with the round faces of aging cherubs who are prime minister and president - into office. Without their identity cards, the grandmothers would not be able to vote. If granny does not vote, the government could be driven from office.

Teenagers guffawed. The governing party fumed.

The most amazing part - it looks like it worked. The Polish election was held earlier today and turnout reached 55% - up from 40% two years ago. No word yet as to whether or not increased youth turnout drove that rise, but it seems likely.