Hye Votes registers hundreds at Navasartian Games

Published: Monday July 23, 2012

Hye Votes at Navasartian.

Van Nuys, Calif. - Hundreds of Armenian-American registered to vote through Hye Votes, the ongoing voter registration initiative of the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region, during the five-day Navasaratian Games and Festival in early July.

Young Hye Votes volunteers, including ANCA-WR Executive Interns, were omnipresent throughout the Games, wearing t-shirts and crisscrossing the grounds with clipboards ready to register any willing and eligible individual.

The Navsartian Games and Festival, which has become an annual tradition for the Los Angeles Armenian community, attracts thousands of attendees. The Games, the largest Armenian athletic event outside of Armenia, culminate in a closing ceremony which this year had present a number of notable figures in government, including Congressmen Howard Berman and Brad Sherman, Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian, Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel, and candidates for California State Assembly Adrin Nazarian and Greg Krikorian.

Few, if any, attendees did not know about the voter registration program, either having been approached by a Hye Votes volunteer, seeing the balloons tied to every chair at the Festival, or hearing one of the many announcements from the stage.

"The significant level of excitement about Hye Votes and especially about seeing young people actively involved in registering new voters was evident among the Festival's attendees," said Tereza Yerimyan, External Affairs Deputy of the ANCA-WR. She continued, "This was the first large event we attended with Hye Votes and we intend to register thousands of new voters in the coming months."

Hye Votes is a project of the ANCA-Western Region to encourage higher civic participation in the community through voter registration and voting. Individuals who have not registered to vote or have moved residences since their last registration may register online. https://ssl.capwiz.com/anca/e4/nvra/?language=en&action=form&state=CA

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.