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Phish “phans” Christian Miller, left, of Northboro, Mass., Alessandra Solberg of Haggerstown, Maryland, and Kayla Murphy, right, of Saratoga Springs take in in the vendor area before tonight’s Phish concert at SPAC Friday July 1, 2016 in Saratoga Springs, NY. (John Carl D’Annibale / Times Union) less
Photo: John Carl D’Annibale
Saratoga Springs
Brandon Hika had never done it before, and he had no intention of doing it now. He didn’t want to register to vote.
“I don’t believe in the system,” the 29-year-old from Middle Grove said, as Phish fans heading to Saturday’s concert streamed past.
“Well, then how are you going to change it?” asked Aaron Ghitelman.
“Not by voting,” answered Hika.
Ghitelman works for HeadCount, a New York City-based nonprofit that sets up at concerts around the country to get the unregistered to reconsider.
Phish is from Vermont, as any fan knows, and it’s a safe bet that liberal Vermonter Bernie Sanders was the presidential choice among many at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center show.
But HeadCount is non-partisan, and Ghitelman says Phish fans aren’t easily pigeonholed. Many have a libertarian bent, he added, that makes them wary of the two major political parties.
“You get all kinds of people,” Ghitelman said. “An 18-year-old Republican woman. A 50-year-old Democratic man. You can’t judge a book by its cover.”
Ghitelman’s cover fits right in at a Phish show. The 25-year-old from New York City has a big red beard and on Saturday had his long hair pulled tight in a ponytail.
He’s also a master pitchman, at least for voter registration. He worked and worked to sway the reluctant, all but begging them to register.
“It would really make me happy if you would register,” he said more than once.
And if that didn’t work, he and the others working in HeadCount’s booth (mostly volunteers) had an additional tool of persuasion: free ice cream, donated by Ben Jerry’s.
Who can pass that up?
In New York’s most recent presidential primary, just 21 percent of the eligible population voted, according to the United States Election Project. Many simply weren’t registered.
But HeadCount says it has registered 350,000 voters since 2004 — and is aiming for an additional 35,000 prior to the November election.
How many of those people actually vote? It’s an open question, although HeadCount emails reminders of upcoming elections to many of the people it registers.
Walk into a Ben Jerry’s, and you have dozens of options from which to choose. Walk into a voting booth, and you often get just two.
Hika was among those at Saturday’s show who said they didn’t vote because they were dissatisfied with the offered choices. But Ghitelman did convince him to register.
“It’s the power of the beard,” Hika said.
cchurchill@timesunion.com • 518-454-5442 • @chris_churchill