Marian High Sophomore Dives Into Presidential Politics With Her 'Bern Bus'

Marian High sophomore Grace Kelly Griffin is not eligible to vote, but that is not stopping her from getting involved in politics.

And she didn’t start with a local campaign or a state campaign, her first venture into politics was with the 2016 presidential election.

“I’m 16, and I don’t have a vote, but I have a voice,” said Griffin.

The Norfolk resident has been campaigning for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire.

Last night, Sanders won the Democratic primary in New Hampshire over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Sanders received 60 percent of the votes.

“I may not be able to vote, but if I can convince someone out there to vote for Bernie, who wasn’t going to vote/vote for him that’s just as good as having a vote of my own,” said Griffin.

Griffin plans to travel to South Carolina next, and campaign for Sanders.

She also has been working the phone banks for the Democrat for the March 1 primaries, including Massachusetts.

“I have an intense love for politics,” said Griffin, who wants to major in political science at college. She is looking at a career as a political analyst after graduation.

This is Griffin’s first time actively involved in a campaign.

But Griffin didn’t have the best experience the first time she held a sign for Sanders.

A few months ago at a large shopping center she was outside holding a sign. She said she was with her dad and the person, who coordinated the event, holding a sign. Everything was fine until the event coordinator left to check on other events.

“It seemed that after the man left we were given not only flack from haters driving by, but mall security. They openly challenged our right to assemble, and freedom of speech by threatening to call the police on us and have up physically removed. We weren’t yelling, nor were we being harmful or hateful in anyway, just smiling and waving, but 26 complaints were made within the hour,” said Griffin. “We pointed out to the security that we were within our rights and a member of the Bernie Sanders campaign had set us up there, then we peacefully walked back to our car and contacted the police.”

The police did arrive.

“The police officers were awesome and pointed out that the security was out of line. However, we were on the mall property so they had power to boot us away. The officers then continued to move us over to a spot that was okay for us to be on because it was state property. Not even 30 minutes later, the mall security was back, this time forcing us to move off state property, threatening to tow our car for no reason, and harassing me about my choice of candidate while doing so,” said Griffin. “Once again, we peacefully retreated to our car and contacted the local police. The police came back and told the security that we were well within our rights. To conclude that day, we ended up just going home after that, as the event was over by the time all the drama finished unfolding.”

Griffin said “I could have taken that first experience as my last experience and called it quits on my campaigning adventures, but what would that say about me? I want to be involved in politics for the rest of my life, and if I quit once my rights were questioned, that would be quitting on my dreams.”

Ironically, Griffin’s parents don’t share her political views, but support her political passion.

“My parents, who don’t share the same political beliefs as me, saw how much I was effected by that day and surprised me by converting our ‘88 RV into The Bern Bus,” said Griffin.

Her dad John said his daughter chose “to stand behind Bernie Sanders because she likes how he has a grassroots campaign, and refuses to have an election bought out by Wall Street and billionaires.”

“We are currently canvassing Massachusetts and surrounding states in preparation for the primaries,” said Grace Griffin.

But Grace, her dad John, and the Bern Bus will be headed to South Carolina for February school vacation week, next week.

Below is video of Griffin, The Bern Bus, and her campaign experience.

Originally posted at 7:05 a.m. Report has been updated twice.