Change the List

Tyler is a university student and nonvoter. Think he should vote? Send him an encouraging message on Twitter or YouTube by tagging it #CTL6. I’ll pass it along to him. See if your response makes it onto his page on CNN.com. This is part of CNN’s Change the List, an effort to bring attention to Hawaii’s lowest-of-the-low voter turnout rates. I’m trying to start a conversation that could boost turnout.

Skyler, soon-to-be 18, doesn’t feel old enough or informed enough to vote. But he’s open to convincing. Send this high school student in Hawaii a message encouraging him to participate. Tag it #CTL4 on Twitter and CNN’s Change the List may add it to his page. This is part of our effort to get people talking about voter turnout. Hawaii has the lowest voter turnout rate in the country, and we’re trying to create a conversation that could change that. Thanks for your support.

CNN’s Change the List is trying to boost voter participation in Hawaii, the state with the lowest turnout rate. It starts with one person. Nani Teruya says Hawaii shouldn’t be part of the United States. She doesn’t vote because she believes the government is illigitimate. Still, a member of the Hawaiian royal family urged her to use her vote to push for change. Help convince Nani to vote by tweeting messages or videos to her with the hashtag #CTL3. 

Yo Internets, we need your help! Send messages to these six people in Hawaii — and help CNN bump the Aloha State off the bottom of the ranks for voter participation. Details here.

Ninety-three-year-old Frank Tanabe casting his vote in Hawaii. Tanabe is in the final stages of cancer. This image of him voting, likely for the last time, went viral. What an inspiration.

More on this story from CNN’s Political Ticker:

According to his daughters, Frank has never missed a presidential election, and wasn’t about to let his illness deter him from voting this time around. When his absentee ballot arrived on Wednesday, his daughter, Barbara, sat at his bedside and read aloud the candidates and issues. “I helped him. He either nodded ‘yes’ or shook his head ‘no’,” Barbara said. “He didn’t always vote for my candidate.” Nonetheless, she followed his directions and mailed in the completed form. He hasn’t been able to speak since.

Michael Remen, a sous-chef in Hilo, Hawaii, spent an hour and a half trying to vote in the primary. The polling places were such a mess, he said, that he doesn’t plan to vote in November. Before this year, he always looked forward to going to his polling place. Help us convince him to vote again. Post a message or video and tag it #CTL2. This is part of CNN’s Change the List — an effort to boost voter participation in Hawaii, the state that had the lowest voter turnout rate in 2008. I’ll report back on whether or not it works. Thanks for your help. — John

Joe never voted until a website asked him to. Share his image and ask your friends to vote. With your help, we can bump Hawaii off the bottom of the list for voter participation. And check out the CNN feature: Hawaii: The state that doesn’t vote. 

Did you know Hawaii has the lowest voter turnout rate in the United States? You can help us change that - starting with one person, Paul Hewlett. Convince him to vote! Send him a message on YouTube or Twitter with the hashtag #CTL1 and we’ll be sure the messages gets to him. ”I’ve never voted in my life,” Hewlett told me when I met him on a beach in Hawaii. “I don’t think my one vote is going to make any difference.” You could convince him otherwise. This project is part of CNN’s Change the List. Our goal is to boost Hawaii off the bottom of the voter turnout ranking. Thanks so much! —John

UPDATE: Check out the responses from the online community here.