My Voice, My Vote: National Campus Voter Registration Drive & Contest
Amelia Ross-Hammond, Professor of Music and Director of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement at Norfolk State University and member of ADP’s implementation committee is on the volunteer Board of Governors for My Voice My Vote a non-partisan National Campus Voter Registration Contest.
The My Voice My Vote National Campus Voter Registration Contest is sponsored by the National Campus Registration Drive. College and university campuses are invited to participate in this non-partisan voter registration drive and contest which begins September 8, 2012.
Teams from across the U.S. will compete against each other to see who can register the most voters in your area and on your campus. Remember, anyone who turns 18 years old by November 2012 is eligible to register to vote. Contest winners will win a “Day With an Elected Official.” Once you register you will be contacted and invited to participate in the Training Sessions online during July and August.
Information and Rules for the National Contest to Register New Voters!
- Be a leader on your campus in your State and apply today! (If you are a college student, you can apply to be a Team Captain for a national fall 2012 contest to register new voters.)
- Application available at: http://www.myvoicemyvote2012.com/
- You can also download this MyVoiceMyVoteKit (pdf)
- Contest begins September 8, 2012
Rules for Contest Participation
- Team Captains must be enrolled in college, university or community college
- Team of 5-10 participants. (1/2 of team enrolled in college and/or 1/2 community)
- Choose Name for team
- Submit Contest Application by July 1, 2012 at National Campus Registration Drive e-mail: myvoicemyvote2012@gmail.com
- 50 Teams will be selected for National Campus Voter Registration Contest
- College students from all States eligible to apply – maximum 2 teams per State
- New Voters can be registered on campus and in community at their nearest Board of Election
- Team that registers the most new voters wins!
Top prizes include :
- “Day with an Elected Official” in home States
Contestants notified and begin online training July/August 2012
Sponsored by: National Campus Voter Registration Drive
Questions? Email myvoicemyvote2012@gmail.com
Concrete Steps to Register Voters:
- The National Mail Voter Registration Form, which allows voters to register from anywhere in the U.S., is available for downloading and printing on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission Web site (www.eac.gov), as are state-specific instructions on registering to vote.
- E-mail. Use your campus e-mail system to reach every student on campus with a message from the coalition promoting your campaign. Be sure to include a link to the Web version of the National Mail Voter Registration Form at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
- Web. Check with your college’s webmaster about posting voter registration information on the site, and linking to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission site, where potential voters can download and print the National Mail Voter Registration Form. You might also explore creating your own Web page on the campus site to provide a one-stop source for information on your voter registration and education efforts.
- Student Body Meeting. Have someone from your campus voter registration attend a student body meetings to explain the voter registration campaign.
- Incorporate into the Curriculum. Encourage each professor or teaching assistant to spend a few minutes at the beginning of each semester to discuss voter registration. Coordinate with the provost’s office, the faculty senate, teaching assistant organizations, and each department chair.
- Campus Mail Boxes. Draft a letter from your coalition explaining the voter registration project, and how to obtain a registration form. Distribute these letters to all the mailboxes on campus.
- Orientation. Work with the student affairs office or the person who organizes orientation sessions. Get permission to make a presentation to the students, then distribute voter registration cards and help them complete the forms. Be sure to have the federal form on hand for those who wish to register at their home address in another state.
- Community Service Projects. This could provide a unique opportunity to reach out to the community and generate media coverage of your voter registration campaign. Have a group of people from your campus go door-to-door in parts of the community that have traditionally had low voter participation rates. Or encourage existing community service programs to adopt voter registration efforts as part of their ongoing activities.
- Door-to-Door Registration. Organize a group of volunteers to go door-to-door in the dorms to register students. Take clipboards loaded with voter registration cards and start walking the halls.
- Alumni Voter Registration Opportunities. Homecoming week, class reunions, fall sports events, and the alumni magazine all provide opportunities to encourage your alumni to register and vote. Coordinate with the alumni office, and ask them to write articles for the newsletter.