With election night right around the corner, candidates around the country are trying to bring more young people into the mix.
Monday night, in Sioux Falls, legislative candidates did just that downtown.
But there's a twist, they had to check their party affiliation at the door.
If speed dating mixed with non-partisan politics, this is what you'd get: the No Party Party. The goal is to leave a mark on young people so they'll get out and vote.
"It's easy when you're young to feel disengaged and the process doesn't work for you or the politicians don't care about you," Jolene Loetscher said.
For this event, politicians had to leave their party affiliation behind and let everyone get to know them, for them.
"Party politics can alienate young voters and put them off. Getting rid of the party politics, we hope to educate and make aware more young voters so they can get out to the polls," Loetscher said.
The idea came from two candidates running for state House and state Senate.
"There's so much going on that affects our future, affects people that have kids and even those who don't. It's important for young people to get involved," House candidate Mike Knudson said.
"Tens of thousands of men and women around the world are wearing the uniform of the USA to protect the freedoms we have to vote, the least we could do is, whether it's absentee or November 6, to vote," Sen. Mark Johnston said.
That's exactly why young people say they're here.
"I'm not really big into the political scene so I thought it might be something good to check out and learn more about the candidates," Lexie Jacobsen said. "I like that you can come here, people can talk about their beliefs and not bring the parties into it."
The event was the first of its kind in Sioux Falls. It was put on by Mud Mile Communications, Click Rain, the Young Professionals Network and 605 Magazine.
