[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Global Header” fullwidth=”on” specialty=”off” _builder_version=”3.6″ next_background_color=”#000000″ disabled=”on” disabled_on=”on|on|on” global_module=”33″][et_pb_fullwidth_image admin_label=”Fullwidth Header Image : DO NOT EDIT” global_parent=”33″ _builder_version=”3.6″ src=”https:\/\/okc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/09\/placeholder-header.jpg” saved_tabs=”all” \/][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” specialty=”off” prev_background_color=”#000000″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_fullwidth_image admin_label=”MOBILE: Fullwidth Image” _builder_version=”3.6″ src=”https:\/\/okc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/09\/tera-illustration.jpg” disabled=”off” disabled_on=”||on” \/][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ specialty=”off” next_background_color=”#000000″ _builder_version=”3.6″ prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.6″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_post_title admin_label=” Enacting Change: One Young Voter at a Time ” _builder_version=”3.6″ date=”off” categories=”off” comments=”off” featured_image=”off” title_font=”Oswald|||on|||||” title_font_size=”60px” meta_font=”Roboto|600|||||||” meta_text_color=”#da7858″ meta_font_size=”24″ \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Explainer Text” disabled_on=”off|off|off%22%22″ _builder_version=”3.6″ text_font=”Roboto||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.9em” custom_padding=”30px|||” disabled=”off”]<\/p>\n
High School Senior Brenna Sawney is battling the stereotype that young people don\u2019t care enough to go to the polls this November. She\u2019s voting in her first national election and actively recruiting her peers to participate. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_video admin_label=”Video: Explainer” _builder_version=”3.6″ src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/I0KKncjtd8c” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Story Hero Image” custom_padding=”100px||600px|” disabled_on=”on|on|off” _builder_version=”3.6″ background_image=”https:\/\/okc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/09\/tera-illustration.jpg” parallax_method=”off” next_background_color=”#ffffff” background_color=”#000000″ prev_background_color=”#ffffff” disabled=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” make_fullwidth=”on” use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”1″ custom_padding=”26.3px|0px|0px|0px” padding_right_2=”10%” padding_left_2=”10%” background_position_1=”top_left” background_position_2=”top_left” background_repeat_1=”no-repeat” background_repeat_2=”no-repeat” _builder_version=”3.6″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_audio admin_label=”Audio Option 1″ _builder_version=”3.6″ title=” %22I\u2019ve always known I was going to register to vote%22″ artist_name=”T’Era McGee” album_name=”Next Generation Radio, Oklahoma 2018″ background_color=”rgba(93,103,153,0.15)” custom_margin=”100px|||” audio=”https:\/\/okc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/09\/Tera_BrennaS.mp3″ \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ specialty=”off” prev_background_color=”#000000″ next_background_color=”#000000″ _builder_version=”3.6″ disabled=”off” disabled_on=”||on”][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_audio admin_label=”MOBILE: Audio Option 1″ _builder_version=”3.6″ title=” %22I\u2019ve always known I was going to register to vote%22″ artist_name=”T’Era McGee” album_name=”Next Generation Radio, Oklahoma 2018″ background_color=”#ffffff” custom_margin=”100px|||” audio=”https:\/\/okc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/09\/Tera_BrennaS.mp3″ background_layout=”light” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” custom_padding=”50px||50px|” _builder_version=”3.0.51″ prev_background_color=”#000000″ next_background_color=”#0f4d90″][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.6″][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Story Text” disabled_on=”off|off|off%22%22″ _builder_version=”3.6″ text_font=”Roboto|300|||||||” text_line_height=”1.9em” custom_padding=”30px|||” disabled=”off”]<\/p>\n Brenna Sawney, an 18-year-old senior at Sallisaw High School in eastern Oklahoma, is battling the stereotype that young people don\u2019t care enough to vote. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of people who think that the younger generation is lazy and don’t care about what happens in the world,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s frustrating because I\u2019m not one of those people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Sawney\u2019s trying to change that stereotype in several different ways.<\/span><\/p>\n She\u2019s attended public school her entire life in <\/span>Sequoyah County, one of the poorest counties in Oklahoma. She believes that Sallisaw High School has done the best they can with what they have, but Sawney dreams of how much farther they could go if they had more funding. <\/span><\/p>\n In her home town of Sallisaw, she lives with her mom, dad, three sisters, a dog named Maggie and a cat named Cappuccino. Sawney is also a cheerleader and involved in competitive dance. <\/span><\/p>\n When she was about seven or eight years old, Sawney\u2019s dad ran for district judge, her first introduction to politics. Despite being raised in a house of conservatives, Sawney identifies as a liberal and doesn\u2019t always agree with the views of her parents. She considers herself an \u201canomaly\u201d within her town. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy parents have always wanted us to have our own opinions politically.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Since Sawney is a new voter, she\u2019s still figuring out all her core values, but these are her top three issues: education, gun reform and women’s rights. The fact that her mom is a public school teacher and works two jobs just so Sawney can take dance lessons shapes her views.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI feel guilty that she\u2019s overworking herself for something that I want to do. She knows it’s important to me,\u201d Sawney expressed. \u201cIt makes me want to work hard and make her proud of me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Now Sawney is involved in a statewide political youth organization that her friends Jamie Pool and James Limbaugh co-founded this year. They call themselves <\/span>Youth Enacting Change<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n Sawney said that the group’s goal is to bring awareness and change to the issues they feel affect Oklahoma’s youth and even adults in the state.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are by youth and for youth,\u201d Sawney said.<\/span><\/p>\n In the group, Sawney collects surveys from political candidates and organizes events. She\u2019s planning a picnic for Youth Enacting Change in October. <\/span><\/p>\n Oklahoma is ranked forty-fourth in the nation for voter turnout, and citizens ages 18-24 make up the smallest percentage of voters by a large margin, according to the Oklahoma Policy Institute. Sawney said she \u201cwasn\u2019t surprised\u201d by that statistic.<\/span><\/p>\n She\u2019s trying to make a difference in her school by hosting regular voter registration drives for her peers. Sawney brings in voter registration forms, gives out stickers and \u201cpretty much harasses\u201d her peers, (she jokingly said).<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe most I\u2019ve gotten in one day is 13,\u201d said Sawney.<\/span><\/p>\n That may seem a little low to some, but, to Sawney, with a graduating class of only 115 students, that number is pretty high. <\/span><\/p>\n Sawney voted this summer in the primary election, but this November will be her first time voting in a national election. As a first-time voter, Sawney said that she\u2019s feeling \u201cpretty excited and eager to finally have a say in what’s going on with the government.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cVoting to me means exercising our democratic right as people who live in a free country. It’s our civic duty to vote. If we want to have the right to vote, we need to vote.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/okc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/09\/Vote-4.jpg” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.6″ custom_margin=”10px|||” animation_duration=”500ms” animation_intensity_slide=”10%” show_bottom_space=”off” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption Text” disabled_on=”off|off|off%22%22″ _builder_version=”3.6″ text_font=”Arial||on||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.9em” custom_padding=”30px|||” disabled=”off”]<\/p>\n Voting isn’t typically the first thing people do when they turn 18, but for Brenna Sawney it wasn’t even a question. Photo: T’Era McGee\/Next Generation Radio<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_video _builder_version=”3.6″ src=”https:\/\/okc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/09\/Next-Gen-Audiogram.mp4″ \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption Text” disabled_on=”off|off|off%22%22″ _builder_version=”3.6″ text_font=”Arial||on||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.9em” custom_padding=”30px|||” disabled=”off”]<\/p>\n Brenna Sawney has this message for people who are older than her and aren’t registered to vote.\u00a0 Photo: T’Era McGee\/Next Generation Radio<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/okc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/09\/Vote-2.jpg” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.6″ custom_margin=”10px|||” animation_duration=”500ms” animation_intensity_slide=”10%” show_bottom_space=”off” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption Text” disabled_on=”off|off|off%22%22″ _builder_version=”3.6″ text_font=”Arial||on||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.9em” custom_padding=”30px|||” disabled=”off”]<\/p>\n Citizens ages 18-24 make up the smallest percentage of voters by a large margin,according to the Oklahoma Policy Institute.\u00a0 Photo: T’Era McGee\/Next Generation Radio<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/okc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2018\/09\/Vote-1.jpg” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.6″ custom_margin=”10px|||” animation_duration=”500ms” animation_intensity_slide=”10%” show_bottom_space=”off” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption Text” disabled_on=”off|off|off%22%22″ _builder_version=”3.6″ text_font=”Arial||on||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.9em” custom_padding=”30px|||” disabled=”off”]<\/p>\n Brenna Sawney keeps a candidate questionnaire on her phone, for a political youth group she’s involved in.\u00a0Photo: T’Era McGee\/Next Generation Radio<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ 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