Happy National Voter Registration Day! The energy and excitement from our campus communities has been at an all time high. Already, more than 250 volunteers across the country have taken action to educate over 300,000 young people about how to get their voice heard on Election Day.
Updates from the Field:
- The Michigan State University team helped launch their National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) voter registration competition this morning. Fraternities and sororities will be competing to see who can have the most members pledge to vote or register to vote today.
- Our Northeast team had nearly 100 students on their NVRD kick-off this morning, featuring Nancy Thomas from the Tufts Institute of Democracy and Higher Education, student government leaders, and faculty members from our local communities.
- From coast to coast, student government leaders are working with PIRG students today to get the word out about National Voter Registration Day. Check out this great video from University of North Carolina – Pembroke Student Body President calling on students to get registered.
- Florida State University and Eckerd College launched student vote sites this week with StudentVote.org! The Eckerd site is a collaboration between PIRG, the Afro-American Society, and Student Government.
By the Numbers Today:
- 18 campuses sent out all campus e-mails this morning encouraging students to register to vote at StudentVote.org.
- An additional 300 faculty and student groups have sent out e-mails encouraging their students and members to register to vote.
- 250 student volunteers have done class announcements, contacted their friends to help them register to vote, hosted events with campus groups, and more.
In the media:
“I think everyone’s kind of just ready to get out there and make the difference that they want to see, since we do make up the biggest group of potential voters” – Mia Totodonati, New Mexico State University student with NMPIRG in Public News Service
“Although COVID-19 has reshaped the election landscape in 2020, as in the past, motivated young Americans are leading the efforts to mobilize their communities this fall, even with minimal face-to-face interaction on campus.” – The Framingham Source coverage of MASSPIRG’s NVRD events
“”But we found that generation Z and millennials, more so than any others, are uniquely set up to interact with their peers through online forums. Growing up with social media and just being way more literate when it comes to the tools that we use for outreach has actually kind of expanded the organizing toolbox we use,” Manny Rin, PIRG New Voters Project Political Director in Business Insider