in Santa Monica
By Daily Press staff
PALISADES PARK — Cory Mervis drove 10,000 miles to make sure a complete stranger here votes in the upcoming election.
Actually, not just one stranger but 700 of them.
Mervis on Tuesday drove into Santa Monica via a decorated school bus, after driving across America to register voters, and encourage people to get involved in local and national issues. She followed a route across the country that spelled “VOTE” in 1,000-mile-tall letters. The satellite-guided course the group followed, specifically designed to take them to many communities otherwise ignored in the national political process, spell the word “VOTE,” making it the largest conceptual artwork in history. Mervis’ group is capable of registering anyone in any state.
The American Bald Eagle bus, renovated by a team of artists in New York, cruised through 30 states and many more cities. At each stop, the crew rolled out an antique typewriter for people to comment on the issues that are important to them, which the team uploaded to the Voterdrive.com Web site each day.
“The simple act of voting is one of the most powerful community actions we can take, yet many people are so frustrated with the political process that voting participation is at an all-time low,” Mervis said. “We are doing something that is more than just voter registration — we’re giving people a platform to express what is important to them.”
The trip includes a former Manhattan marketing executive, a former political aide to both Republicans and Democrats, a ham radio operator and a master mechanic to keep them all on the road.
“One of the greatest challenges we face doesn’t have anything to do with the bus or the drive — it’s convincing people that we are absolutely non-partisan,” Mervis said. “We all have our opinions on the issues, but above it all what brings us together is the desire to get people to re-engage in the democratic process.”
The group left New York on July 22. It will now head back, making another loop and recruiting more citizens to the polls.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 22, 2004. Read the original PDF.