ALSO OUT YOUTH CALLED A KEY FACTOR IN AMERICA'S PROMISE ALLIANCE HONOR FOR SARASOTA COUNTY
County to its annual list of the 100 Best Communities for Young People, in part be- cause of the LGBT outreach work of Sara- sota's ALSO Out Youth.
The America's Promise Al- liance, a nationwide orga- nization dedicated to re- ducing the country's high school dropout rate, last week named Sarasota
NEWS BRIEFS
the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elec- tions Office has announced.
New voter registrations must be post- marked by Oct. 9 or delivered in person to any supervisor of elections Office no later than 5 p.m., Oct. 9, a news release notes.
America's Promise selects its winning cit- ies by measuring how they are living up to their "Five Promises": "Caring Adults," "Safe Places," "A Healthy Start," "Effective "Education" and "Opportunities to Help Others." In citing Sarasota, the group sin- gled out five programs for special recogni- tion, among them ALSO, which "has pro- vided services to LGBTQ youth ensuring safe spaces and supportive adults to en- hance self-esteem."
The recognition comes on the heel's of AL- SO's Stand Up Sarasota week. Over the course of three days, Hudson Taylor — the founder of Athlete Ally, an organization that fights homophobia and transphobia in sports — spoke to students at four different Sarasota County schools about the impor- tance of standing up against bullying and hate.
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE NEARS FOR NOV. 6 ELECTION
Sarasota County residents must be regis- tered to vote by Tuesday, Oct. 9, to be eli- gible to vote in the Nov. 6 general election,
Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent also is urging all voters to verify and/or update their registration information prior to Elec- tion Day. Changes and updates may be made as follows:
• New registrations and signature updates must be submitted on a Florida Voter Reg- istration Application (FVRA).
• Name and party changes may be made by signed written notice, including on a vot- er registration application, but they must include the voter's date of birth or Florida Voter Registration System ID number.
• Address changes within the state of Flor- ida may be made by phone, fax or email but must include the voter's date of birth.
A voter may check his or her voter regis- tration status by going to the supervisor of elections' website. Select "Voter Infor- mation" from the menu, then select "Voter Lookup" and follow the instructions.
Florida Voter Registration Application forms are available at all supervisors of elections' offices, city halls, county libraries and offices and social service agencies. They also may be downloaded from the elections' office website.
