Area events are aiming to inform voters

Voters of all persuasions who are looking to get informed about the upcoming elections will have their pick of events in Hollis and Brookline during the coming weeks.

Townspeople will have a chance to pose questions to local candidates, and young people will find out how to get involved in the elections. There will even be a chance to catch a documentary about the 2000 presidential election.

On Wednesday, Oct. 13, local residents won’t even have to leave home to interact with candidates for the state Senate and House of Representatives.

The Hollis-Brookline Rotary Club will host a public forum with state candidates that day from 7:30-9:30 a.m. at the Community Room at Hollis Town Hall that will be broadcast live over cable access channels.

Invited speakers include the two state Senate candidates from District 12 – Democrat David Gottesman of Nashua and Republican Harry Haytayan of Hollis.

Also invited to speak are District 5 Republican House candidates Carolyn Gargasz, Richard Drisko and Don Ryder of Hollis and Michael Molkentine of Brookline; and Democratic House candidates John Dunn and Claire Helfman of Hollis, Betty Hall of Brookline and Lin Robinson of Mason.

The forum will be moderated by attorney Michael Askenaizer of Hollis.

Each candidate will deliver an opening statement, followed by questions received in writing from forum attendees and from viewers at home.

On Sunday, Oct. 17, the Hollis Democrats will host a showing of the documentary “Unprecedented: the 2000 Presidential Election.”

The documentary centers on the role of Florida in the 2000 election.

The documentary will be shown at the home of Marge Thompson at 9 Irene Drive in Hollis. For more information, call Thompson at 465-7761 or Helfman at 465-7587.

On Tuesday, Oct. 19, the Brookline Public Library will host a forum for new voters from 7-9 p.m.

The forum will feature a panel of speakers to help young folks become familiar with voting and political activism.

“What we’ve seen at the high school is a generation of kids who care and who want to live what they believe, but they’re discouraged about what they see,” said Pat Fickett, the library’s assistant director.

“I think the forum will show them how to get involved in politics beyond the election. It’s politics as a way of life as opposed to politics as a sound bite.”

Panelists Hall and Haytayan will talk about their political careers. Hollis/Brookline High School teachers Joel Mitchell and Bill Neller also will speak, along with representatives of Students for Kerry-Edwards and the New Hampshire Young Republicans. Jen Hudziec, an alternative political activist, will be a featured speaker.

Shane LaCoss, student body president at Hollis/Brookline High School, will moderate the forum, which will provide information on registering to vote.

The young voter forum is a piece of the library’s fall theme of “Celebrate the Freedoms” and is open to the public. For more information, call the library at 673-3330.