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.
How to build a Student Vote coalition: The first step is to make a list of everyone you want to ask to join your coalition. Here are some particular groups to think about:
  • 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
Next, contact everyone and pitch them on joining your coalition. You’ll probably want to email everyone, make a follow-up call, and even meet with each of them in person to present your vision and get their ideas. Finally, organize your first Coalition Meeting. You should get two things out of this meeting: you should build everyone’s investment in the project by brainstorming ideas together, and you should set a goal for how many people you’ll register together. Then you’re ready to start registering some voters.