It was after Parkland shootings that she saw need for educating voters on local issues

On the Saturday before Election Day at the John F. Kennedy Library in Hialeah, two teenage sisters handed out fliers to educate voters about Tuesday’s primary election, which has a heated race for mayor, among other races.

“I was never involved in politics,” said Michelle Berndt, 18, who, along with her 16-year-old sister Maya, was talking to voters at the Hialeah polling place. “I love that it gives me a way to expand my horizons.”

The Berndt sisters are volunteering with My Vote Project, a nonpartisan organization focused on providing free resources for voters about local elections to boost awareness and turnout among voters. To date, the My Vote Project has researched nearly 10,000 political candidates across 15 states. My Vote Project also hosts candidate forums and political discussions.

“It’s a free website. You type in your ZIP code and you can find information about your candidates,” said Sari Kaufman, 19, who founded the organization last year.

Kaufman, a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass shootings on Feb. 14, 2018, in Parkland that killed 17 students and faculty members, was one of the organizers of the March for Our Lives Rally, which Parkland students organized after the shootings to demand new gun laws. The rally, held March 24, 2018, drew hundreds of thousands to Washington.

At the rally, Kaufman helped register over 1,000 people to vote. In so doing, Kaufman spotted a common theme among the participants, both young and old.

“There was just a lack of voter education, not knowing who their candidates were and not knowing the 2018 mid-term elections were coming up,” said Kaufman, a sophomore in high school at the time of the shootings. “Seeing an issue, I decided to do something about it.”

Two years later in 2020, Kaufman, then a freshman at Yale University, found partners to create My Vote Project: Gita Stulberg, a Democratic organizer and David McAdams, a professor at Duke University.

But it’s college and high school students who make up greater than 90% of the 300-person volunteer team and do the bulk of the work. As a result, the research, canvassing and forum hosting is all done primarily by students.

Previous events were done virtually, but My Vote Project recently hosted its first in-person event, a policy discussion with students from Florida International University on Oct. 21. At the forum, they discussed foreign policies and how they relate to the Miami elections.

“It was a really engaging conversation,” said 19-year-old host Bela Urbina, who hosted the event. An international relations major at FIU, Urbina is the national policy lead for My Vote Project. She said she was surprised by how engaged her fellow students were, which she attributed to the student focus.

In a polarized political landscape, My Vote Project has won over people from both sides of the aisle.

“I wish more people their age would get involved. If you notice everyone that votes through this line…they are so old, they could be dying tomorrow,” said Antonio Luis, a Hialeah a police lieutenant, who was standing in line to vote at the Hialeah library.

“Local elections affect your life more than national ones,” he said. “I have two daughters close to their age…for young people to recognize that, it’s great.”

On the opposite side of the parking lot, Hialeah city council candidate Abdel Jimenez, one of six candidates running for the Group VII seat, saw the benefits as well.

“When they told me about it, I said, ‘That is a great idea,’” he said. “A lot of time the voters just get a flier, and you don’t know who it is and what they stand for.”

With her eyes set on expanding My Vote Project to all states, it is feedback from her volunteers, such as the Berndt sisters, that Kaufman says gives her a sense of accomplishment

“After the shooting, it showed me how important it is for young people to be involved in politics,” Kaufman said. “Seeing young people feeling empowered, and seeing it at such a young age, when they can’t even vote…I think with My Vote, I definitely made an impact.”

This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 6:00 AM.