Engage the Election 2016: NVRD is Sept. 27th & State Guides

Beginning to make plans for registering students to vote in the November 2016 elections?

Become an National Voter Registration Day Partner

National Voter Registration Day (NVRD) is a nonpartisan, 50-state holiday when thousands of organizations and volunteers work together to register voters. As a partner, ADP is encouraging our campuses to sign up as partners for NVRD. By signing up now, you can receive stickers, posters and a toolkit to help your school or organization be an active participant on Tuesday, September 27^th. Note: Sign up by July 1st!

CVP’s 2016 Student Guides Are Now Available

Every year our partners at FELN’s Campus Vote Project (CVP) update materials that administrators, faculty and students can use to clarify the deadlines, rules, and frequently asked questions about registering and voting in their state. Their student voting guides for all 50 states and DC for 2016 are updated and available on their website. Visit the CVP website for student voting guides and other useful materials you can use leading up to election day on Tuesday, November 8.

 

What We’re Reading: CIRCLE Analysis of Trump & Young Voters

Exclusive Analysis: Donald Trump and Young Voters

CIRCLE has released a comprehensive analysis of Donald Trump’s level of support from young people during the 2016 primaries. It examines how Trump’s support from young voters stacks up with previous Republican nominees, as well as implications for the general election. Major findings include:

• Generally, Donald Trump received a lower level of support from youth than from older voters
• Trump received a slightly larger proportion of estimated youth votes in the primary season than previous Republican nominees McCain and Romney
• As a whole, young people view Trump unfavorably, with young women and youth of color viewing him even more unfavorably. Meanwhile, young people with less formal education showed greater levels of support for Trump in the primaries.

“With less than five months until Election Day, Mr. Trump’s campaign has both challenges and opportunities with young voters,” writes CIRCLE Director Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg. “On the one hand, the youth electorate has been very active this year, with youth participation in the GOP and Democratic contests more evenly split than in recent presidential cycles. On the other hand, youth of color and young women are currently the least likely groups to support Trump.”

Read more, and find all of CIRCLE’s political data and analysis at the CIRCLE 2016 Election Center.

Guest Posts on Youth Political Engagement Beyond Elections

CIRCLE’s current guest post series explores how youth electoral engagement can have broader goals, including connections to civic life and democracy more generally. Three recent posts by practitioners make valuable contributions to that conversation:

• Developing Youth Skills Before and After Election Day, by Mikva Challenge
• A Sense of Youth Agency beyond Elections, by The Roosevelt Institute
• The Local Chapter: A Model for Civic Engagement, by High School Democrats of America

Stay connected to CIRCLE on Facebook and Twitter to learn more.

#CLDE16: Don’t Miss our Political Engagement Pre-Con!

The 2016 presidential election cycle has thus far been one of the most polarizing and captivating in recent memory, and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Meanwhile, a rising tide of emergent research, tools and civic technologies is redefining the way campuses are able to understand their students and provide them with the right opportunities for meaningful, sustained engagement. If this sounds interesting to you, please join us on Wednesday, June 1st from 10:00 am-4:00 pm for the Electoral Political and Engagement Institute sponsored by icitizen at the 2016 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement meeting. This highly interactive session will bring together a diverse range of higher ed. institutions as well as the organizations doing pioneering civic work on campuses across the country. We’ll explore how increased collaboration can help capitalize on the current political climate—a “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” approach that will encourage student participation and keep them engaged through the election and beyond!

This pre-conference event will expose participants the most effective and exciting civic resources available to campuses as the November elections approach. The day will begin with a series of round table conversations and panel discussions designed to familiarize those in attendance with the wide variety of perspectives from which our partner organizations and other campuses approach these complex issues. Then we’ll break into small groups so that participants can work with each partner organization individually to explore how that organization’s tools and resources can best be adapted to suit the needs of their particular campus. By the end of the day, everyone present will have a clear understanding of what needs to be done on their respective campuses, how to do it and who to work with to make it happen.

For more information on the awesome organizations participating in this event, check them out below!

icitizen is a community where you connect with your elected officials to be heard on the civic issues you care about. With icitizen, you create change at the local, state and federal level. To download the app or learn more: https://www.icitizen.com/

 

 

CIRCLE, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement, focuses on young people in the United States, especially those who are marginalized or disadvantaged in political life. CIRCLE’s scholarly research informs policy and practice for healthier youth development and a better democracy. It is based at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University. To learn more: http://civicyouth.org/.

In 2012, the Fair Elections Legal Network (FELN) launched Campus Vote Project (CVP) to focus and expand its work around student voting issues. CVP works with universities, community colleges, faculty, students and election officials to reduce barriers to student voting. Our goal is to help campuses institutionalize reforms that empower students with the information they need to register and vote.

Young Invincibles was founded in the summer of 2009, motivated by the recognition that young people’s voices were not being heard in the debate over health care reform. Co-Founders Ari Matusiak and Aaron Smith and a few friends wanted to change that, so they set up a one page website, asking young people to share their stories, believing in their generation’s capacity to stand up and make itself heard. To learn more: http://younginvincibles.org/.

The NASPA Lead Initiative on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (Lead Initiative) comprises a network of NASPA member colleges and universities committed to encouraging and highlighting the work of student affairs in making civic learning and democratic engagement a part of every student’s college education. Selected institutions, representing public and private four-year and two-year colleges and universities, have committed to a series of strategies to work in partnership with on and off campus constituents to influence students’ ongoing commitment to civic learning and democratic engagement. The NASPA Lead Initiative offers unique professional development opportunities, targeted resources, networking, and recognition for its Lead Institutions. For more information: https://www.naspa.org/rpi/lead-initiative.

The American Democracy Project (ADP) is a multi-campus initiative focused on public higher education’s role in preparing the next generation of informed, engaged citizens for our democracy. The project began in 2003 as an initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), in partnership with The New York Times. The more than 260 AASCU member campuses in this network advance the civic learning and democratic engagement of their students, campuses and communities. Learn more here: http://www.aascu.org/programs/ADP/.

TurboVote is an application that makes voting easy. When you sign up (won’t you sign up?), we keep track of your elections, local and national. And if you need to get registered, update your voter registration, or request an absentee ballot, we’ll get you all the forms and information you need, when you need them. To learn more: http://democracy.works/turbovote.

The National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD) works to address incivility and political dysfunction in American democracy by promoting structural and behavior change.  Informed by research, its programs are designed to create safe spaces for elected officials, the public, and the media to engage different voices respectfully and take responsibility for the quality of our public discourse and democratic institutions. NICD’s program, Text, Talk, Vote, uses text messaging to facilitate a face-to-face conversation on civic participation and voting. TTV reaches young people right where they live, through the use of mobile technology and social media, combined with face-to-face conversation and community organizing. To learn more: http://nicd.arizona.edu/.

Andrew Goodman and two of his contemporaries were young adults committed to equality, voting rights and social justice – they died fighting for those very commitments during Freedom Summer 1964. Established to continue Andy’s legacy, The Andrew Goodman Foundation’s Vote Everywhere program is the Foundation’s nonpartisan, experiential program that recruits, trains and supports emerging leaders at America’s colleges and universities. Vote Everywhere students strengthen democracy by leading long-term voter engagement, public policy and social justice initiatives. To learn more: https://andrewgoodman.org/vote-everywhere/.

As a Voter Education Partner for the Commission on Presidential Debates, Dominican University of California is proud to lead the College Debate initiative and host the inaugural College Convention. Dominican is an independent university of almost 2,000 highly diverse undergraduate and graduate students located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dominican integrates inspiring teaching and supportive mentoring with internships, community service, research, study abroad, and leadership opportunities. The University is committed to ensuring that all students understand how to be ethical, engaged global citizens. To learn more: http://collegedebate16.org/partners/.

Voto Latino is a pioneering civic media organization that seeks to transform America by recognizing Latinos’ innate leadership. Through innovative digital campaigns, pop culture, and grassroots voices, we provide culturally relevant programs that engage, educate and empower Latinos to be agents of change. Together, we aim to build a stronger and more inclusive democracy. To learn more: http://votolatino.org/.

Civic Nation uses organizing, engagement and public awareness to address some of our nation’s most pressing challenges. We work with public and private partners to build tools and campaigns that turn great ideas into action. To learn more: https://civicnation.org/.

Don’t forget to register, already registered, no problem. You can go back to your registration confirmation link and sign up for the pre-con on Political Engagement. We hope to see you at what promises to be a unique and powerful opportunity for collaboration!

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Global Millennial Engagement: From Dialogue to Action (A Generation Progress Event)

Global Millennial Engagement: From Dialogue to Action

November 13, 2015, 10:00 am ET – 11:30 am ET

Bookmark this link to watch the live webcast

Keynote presentation:
David Lewis, AudienceNet UK
David Kitching, AudienceNet UK

Panel discussion:
Layla Zaidane , Communications Director, Generation Progress
Lia Quartapelle, MP, Italy
David Lewis, AudienceNet UK
Hilary Leftick, Director of Volunteer Mobilization, Trudeau Campaign

Moderated by:
Matt Browne , Senior Fellow, Center For American Progress

The Millennial generation is shifting conventional wisdom on political engagement. While young people are more skeptical of institutions and less likely to identify with political parties, they are also more progressive then previous generations. What does this reality mean for political organizing as we know it? How do U.S. Millennials compare with their peers around the world? And how will they shape politics and policy in the decades to come?

Generation Progress, in partnership with Foundation for European Progressive Studies and AudienceNet, recently commissioned a groundbreaking new study called the Millennial Dialogue Project. This research on cultural norms, political engagement, and social change has now been conducted in over a dozen countries and will be presented by leading experts.

This event will look at today’s global youth engagement programs both inside and outside of established political systems in order to draw lessons and identify trends. Successful programs in the United States, such as the It’s On Us campaign, have demonstrated the potential to galvanize the Millennial generation with the right messaging and organizing strategies. Outside of the United States, young people have rallied around different causes and candidates because of similar principals: a message that resonates with them and a clear path to an achievable goal.

This panel brings together individuals from the advocacy and activists worlds, elected officials, and political campaigners for a conversation on why young people are skeptical of institutions, what motivates them to action, and how to leverage that knowledge into successful youth organizing tactics around the globe.