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Plan Ahead So Voters Aren’t Left Behind
October 29th, 2010
by Ruth Greenwood, Fair Elections Legal Network
Organizers can help voters ensure their ballots are counted by being aware of some simple State-by-State GOTV Tips that we at the Fair Elections Legal Network (FELN) have published for 12 states. For campus organizers we have 2 page tips for CO, FL, MO, NC, OH and PA. For organizations doing non-campus GOTV there are one page tips for 12 states.
These guides have information about:
- When and where early voting is occurring;
- Who is allowed to send in an absentee ballot;
- What time the polls are open on Election Day;
- What ID voters will need to present to poll workers; and
- What to do if voters have moved before Election Day
With some basic GOTV, early voting, and Election Day planning, organizers can help ensure that ballots cast are ballots counted!
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Young Volunteers Seek to Increase Latino Turnout
October 13th, 2010
The organization Promise Arizona is seeking to increase Latino voter turnout for the midterm elections, and young voters are among their most active volunteers.
As CNN’s Thelma Gutierrez reports, “They’re young, motivated, and part of a fast-growing electorate.”
The segment below begins with voter registration team leader Emily Angeles, whose not even old enough to vote herself. Fourteen year-old Emily is part of a larger movement of 300 young volunteers for Promise Arizona who made it their mission to register 12,000 voters this cycle (and ended up registering about 13,000).
In particular, young Latino voters in Arizona are mobilizing around issues like the state’s controversial immigration policy and the DREAM Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented college students and those who serve in the military.
When even those who are too young to vote take to the streets to register their peers, it shows our generation is clearly energized and enthusiastic about civic engagement. Emily admits such work is not always easy, but she also says, “I believe that voting does give people a voice. One voice can make a difference.”
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Three Weeks To Seal The Deal
October 12th, 2010
Today, Vote Again partner ReEnergize the Vote launched its get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts in Colorado, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas. Organizers and volunteers for the the national nonpartisan youth voter mobilization campaign will now work to turn out the thousands of young people they helped register in those states.
The campaign, spearheaded by the Sierra Club’s Sierra Student Coalition has registered more than 27,000 young voters on 25 campuses who either voted for the first time in 2008 or will vote for the first time in 2010. Now, ReEnergize the Vote is planning to collect more than 45,000 “Pledges to Vote,” and will also reach young voters with information on Early Voting, polling locations, and voting procedures on Election Day.
Jordan Butler, a ReEnergize the Vote campus organizer in Reno, Nevada has seen young voters who are ready to participate in the midterm elections.
“We’ve heard from so many young Americans who understand the importance of civic engagement and political activism,” he said. “I know that despite the obstacles — apathy, dissatisfaction with politics, hopelessness — young voters will make their voices heard on November 2.”
You can make your pledge to vote with ReEnergize by clicking here.
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Getting Out the Vote in Colorado
October 8th, 2010
Vote Again 2010 partners New Era Colorado and Rock the Vote are getting out the vote on college campuses all over Colorado.
There’s plenty of students and young people ready to vote, as the groups registered 5,000 young people in Boulder, including students from the University of Colorado campus and in Fort Collins, including students from Colorado State University. Voter registration efforts were also in full swing at the Colorado Springs and Auraria campuses of the University of Colorado, Colorado State’s Pueblo campus, and the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.
Rock the Vote and New Era Colorado will be at these schools all the way up to Election Day, making sure students have all the information they need, so stop by one of their events and pledge to vote! They’ll send you a reminder closer to November 2nd telling you when it’s time to cast your ballot.
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Cuéntame works to engage Latino voters
October 7th, 2010
Cuéntame, a project of the the Brave New Foundation, is as a platform for the Latino community and the public at large that uses videos on social justice issues, the arts, and culture to tell their stories.
The campaign has brought together diverse individuals and communities and sparked discussion on everything from immigration to Latino music and film.
In fact, Cuéntame recently brought together a coalition of Latino groups working to increase civic participation in 2010, including Vote Again partners Voto Latino and their United We Win campaign.
As you can see in this video, Cuéntame and its partner organizations teamed up with Our Lady of the Angels Church in downtown Los Angeles to register Latino voters and get them excited about the upcoming midterm elections. With voter registration deadlines either passed or approaching fast, Cuéntame will now begin working to mobilize those they registered to get out to the polls this November 2nd.
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University of Texas “Hooks the Vote”
October 6th, 2010
Before the voter registration deadline at midnight on Monday, the student-led Hook the Vote campaign and HeadCount teamed up to register more than 5,000 voters in less than 14 hours at the University of Texas.
Organizers and volunteers were both excited and surprised by the level of enthusiasm they saw from their fellow students. Hook the Vote received 2,500 voter registration cards from a local county tax office, but ended up needing a lot more.
The day was filled with a wide variety of student groups running voter registration tables throughout campus while the night brought a rally called “Midnight Madness.” The rally featured live music, free food, and free t-shirts.
With the voter registration deadline passed, Hook the Vote will now turn its efforts to getting out the vote before and on November 2nd, including getting students to the polls between October 18th and October 29th for early voting.
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Trick or Vote scares up voters
September 29th, 2010
Think you’re too old for Halloween? How’s promoting democracy for a great excuse to pop in the old vampire teeth and add some fake blood? Throughout this week, Trick or Vote will be in costume on the ground, making sure young voters are registered well before Halloween weekend. You can find an event near you on Trick or Vote’s “Get Involved” page or host your own event by clicking here. Just type in your zip code and get signed up now!
Also be sure to get on board for the biggest costumed canvas in the country. The group is just getting warmed up, as they have 50 events planned and will make more than 200,000 voter contacts on the big night of October 31st.
Finally, check out the Trick or Vote entry to our video contest, which features office witch Marsha Wellingstone offering her thoughts on voting and democracy.
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HeadCount hits the concert circuit
September 28th, 2010
Throughout this week of action before the voter registration deadlines, Vote Again 2010 partner HeadCount will be registering young people at concerts across the nation.
The non-profit organization, which works with musicians to promote participation in democracy, will be registering voters at concerts from a wide variety of great bands. Shows where they’ll be doing voter registration include The National, Tom Petty, Guster, Vampire Weekend, and Jack Johnson. HeadCount will also be hitting up Farm Aid in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which will be headlined by Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Dave Matthews.
Just like the bands, HeadCount will be all over the map, so come out to a show near you and register to vote. You can see the full list of events by clicking here.
Also be sure to check out the HeadCount entry to the Vote Again 2010 video contest. The video features artist like Ben Harper, Michael Franti, and Thievery Corporation talking about why they think it’s important to vote in the midterm elections.
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Inspiration to Keep Us Going!
September 13th, 2010
by Alexandra Mele, ReEnergize the Vote Penn State Campus Organizer
Almost every day I canvass, I hear comments like these from our students:
“I’ve been meaning to register but I didn’t know how!”
“I never would have done this if you hadn’t come up to me.”
“You guys make this so easy! I thought it’d be complicated.”
“I had no idea I could vote here.”
The message that I take away from these comments is that students really do care about the policies that affect them and want to get involved, but they don’t feel that the system is accessible to them. They don’t know where to go to register to vote, they’re busy, they imagine it will be a long, complicated form, and they don’t realize that they can vote where they go to school.
That’s why this work is so important. Registering to vote and voting on election day can be a confusing process. A lot of students don’t have enough information about the system at 18 or 20 years old to navigate it alone.
As campaign workers and volunteers we simplify the process. We bring it to where the students are, and educate people along the way. Every day you go out there, be inspired to give it your all, knowing that you’re empowering young people to make their voices heard!
Cross-posted from ReEnergize the Vote
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Making Voting Ghoul Again in 2010
August 24th, 2010
By Richelle Devoe, Trick or Vote
“This is brilliant,” I thought to myself while staring at a crowd of zombies, vampires, witches and the undead. I had attended plenty of get out the vote efforts, but never like this. The room was packed, Monster Bash was playing loudly over the speakers, and everyone was dripping in a thick cornstarch blood. “Welcome to Trick or Vote!” a bright eyed Bride of Frankenstein said, handing me a clipboard.
Engaging, educating, and empowering our peers is incredible work, but canvassing can be intimidating for volunteers. It’s incredibly difficult to talk to strangers and ask them to vote, but it’s increasingly the one thing that works to mobilize people. I wanted to do important work side-by-side with my peers and have a good time doing it. When I heard about a Halloween themed Get Out The Vote effort, I couldn’t help but show up. Trick or Vote provided a natural and funny way for me to talk to my neighbors.
“Where did you guys come up with this?” I prodded the head zombie while trying not to stare directly into the large fake gash across his forehead (even a zombie might find it rude).
The zombie beamed,”Well, a study was done at Yale in 2001 that showed that face-to-face contact is the single best way to get someone to vote. Knocking doors is the best method of doing that. So if knocking doors is the best way to get people to vote, what single day do people expect a knock on their door from a stranger?”
“Halloween …” I responded.
“And when does Halloween happen to fall?”
“Right before elections.”
I was in awe, the brilliance behind Trick or Vote struck me like lightning (which a 16 year-old Frankenstein assured me was an accurate description).
If the fake blood and brilliant idea didn’t get me, the turn out results definitely did.
In 2008, when absolutely everyone I knew was getting involved in politics in some way or another, I didn’t think that a one-night canvass would have much of an affect. I was dead wrong. While pre-recorded calls turn people out at a rate of 0 percent to -0.2 percent, David Nickerson ran a study that showed that Trick or Vote was turning people out at 5 percent. That’s enough to change elections!
I later discovered that we weren’t alone that night. Our event of 150 boys and ghouls was just one of 35 events nationwide in 2008 that contacted over 100,000 voters. Young people showed up in the thousands painted pale and wearing fangs, went out and asked their neighbors to vote, and came back to dance the night away to live music. In 2010 we’re doing it again, but bigger.
I’m proud to be a part of Trick or Vote this year. We’re making 2010 the biggest one in history. We’re doubling our goals and not stopping there. We’re going to be in at least 50 cities nationwide from Portland, OR to Orlando, FL and we want to haunt your town.
Checkout our recent video announcing this year’s campaign and go to http://www.trickorvote.org to get involved!
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Back to School
July 27th, 2010
By James Dubick, Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project
It might still feel like the middle of summer, but across the country students are getting ready to go back to their colleges and turn out the vote.
Just in the past few weeks, the Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project has hired 160 student interns who will be running voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives on their campuses this fall. Those interns are now beginning to plan out their voter registration drives, build campus Vote Coalitions, and recruit volunteers.
Campus voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives like these are crucial to turning out the student vote. In 2006, research by CIRCLE (the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement) found that targeted voter mobilization campaigns in 36 student-heavy precincts increased voter turnout by an average of 156% compared to the previous midterm election. That’s a big impact!
If you’re interested in working with the Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project to turn out voters this fall, sign up here.
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The Past Decade by the Digits
July 27th, 2010
By Abby Kiesa, Circle
For five election cycles in a row, a particular group of young people has showed up to cast votes more than the previous year. You got that: every two years for a whole DECADE straight.
Since the 2000 election, young people who don’t have any college experience have increasingly been showing up to cast votes and have their voices heard. (This group of young people makes up roughly half of the 18-29 population in the U.S.) The largest jump was from 2000 to 2004, when the voter turnout rate rose by nine percentage points for those youth 18-29 who have never been to college. It rose again in 2008 to make the increase for Presidential elections over eleven percentage points since 2000.
2010 is an opportunity to keep this going!
For too long, 18- to 29-year-olds who don’t (yet) have college experience have been under-represented in making critical decisions about our cities and communities. What matters in voting is getting your voice heard about what’s going on in your community and around the country. Without the voices of ALL young people (not just those with the privilege of going to college) U.S. democracy suffers from a lack of information – information about people’s experiences and what’s going on in communities, neighborhoods and families across the country.
Join us in keeping the ten-year upward trend going.
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We are young climate leaders-we vote!
July 13th, 2010
By Courtney Hight, Executive Director of Energy Action Coalition
When an oil rig exploded off the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, the country was startled out of inaction and we have all watched, day after day, one more example of the impact of reliance on dirty and dangerous sources of energy. Young people were ready to take to the streets, and Energy Action Coalition has since organized nearly 100 actions in response to the disaster.
Now, we’re ready to take that action to the polls.
This fall, Energy Action Coalition is launching Power Vote 2010 – working with Millennials who care about climate change and environmental justice to take their passion to the polls. Rahm Emanuel said just a few weeks ago what we’ve long known to the true – that young people who are passionate about energy issues and the environment will turn out to vote. Power Vote 2008 engaged over 350,000 young people around clean energy – and since I became the Executive Director of the Energy Action Coalition just last month, I’ve heard countless stories about the successes of the 2008 campaign. I am counting down the days until we launch Power Vote at our training camp next month in Chicago! We still have a few spaces available–apply today!
Young people are defining our decade, and standing up to the dirty energy corporations that are influencing our elections and our elected leaders. The Energy Action Coalition will continue to be the hub of this action – your home if you want to be trained, inspired, and supported to create a just and sustainable future. Today’s the day for you to take action! Sign up to run Power Vote on your campus or community on our brand new website – www.energyactioncoalition.org. We can’t wait for you to join us!
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