One of the best ways to get decision-makers to pay attention to students is to make sure that students get to the polls and vote during elections.
If you want to run a big voter registration and get-out-the-vote project, building a campus-wide coalition is key to your success. Having a broad Student Vote coalition lets you run the biggest possible voter registration drive by bringing together groups with a range of resources.
For example:
- Volunteers. Service organizations, the Greek system, and political organizations can often mobilize a ton of volunteers to help register students to vote.
- Members. Groups with a big membership base can contribute a lot just by getting all of their own members registered.
- Access to students. For example, the faculty and the Residence Life system, can bring a lot to the coalition through their access to a lot of students.
- Access to websites and email lists. While your emphasis should be on talking to students face-to-face, websites like StudentVote.org let you fill out a voter registration form online and then print and mail it. Use your coalition to get “Register To Vote Here” links put on highly-trafficked campus websites, and get announcements sent over as many email lists as possible.
- The biggest organizations on campus
- The groups that organize the biggest events
- The freshman orientation committee
- The residence hall system
- Greek organizations
- Political organizations
- Community service organizations
- Faculty who teach the biggest classes
- Faculty who teach a lot of freshmen
- The Faculty Union or Faculty Senate
- The Athletics department
- The Dean of Students
- The College/University President