 With elections now certified in all 50 states, Nonprofit VOTE has released America Goes to the Polls 2012, the latest in a series of reports on national turnout and voting trends. In this webinar we will examine some of the report's most interesting findings, including what state by state voter turnout rankings reveal about the factors affecting turnout, such as Election Day Registration, and swing state status. We will also examine key voting trends among populations served by our nonprofits, as well as reform proposals to expand voter registration and the opportunity to vote.
America Goes to the Polls 2012 was featured in the New York Times, Washington Post and Politico.
Featured Speakers: Julian Johannesen: Julian is Director of Research at Nonprofit VOTE and co-author of America Goes to the Polls. Julian has been with Nonprofit VOTE since its inception in 2005, during which time he has overseen the organization's research, training program, and more. Before joining Nonprofit VOTE, Julian was a field director for America Coming Together in Franklin County, Ohio during the 2004 presidential election. Julian has a BA in philosophy and linguistics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Sophie Lehman: At Nonprofit VOTE, Sophie works to provide nonprofits with accessible resources, materials, and information to conduct effective voter engagement. She has experience with both domestic and international elections and political processes. She was part of a research team that reviewed and analyzed hundreds of international election monitoring reports and also worked with the National Democratic Institute in Nepal on a range of civil society strengthening programs. Sophie has served as a poll worker, volunteered with Kids Voting Durham NC, and has registered new American citizens to vote. Prior to joining Nonprofit VOTE, she served as an AmeriCorps VISTA at a women's shelter in Boston. She has a B.A. in political science and history from Duke University.To register for the webinar click here.
From Non Profit Vote's Website.
 Washington, DC – It’s been 42 years since the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 with the 26th Amendment, yet challenges to student participation in the voting process are still prevalent. To mark this anniversary, Campus Vote Project, a project of the Fair Elections Legal Network, released “College Students and Voting: A Campus Vote Project Perspective.” The report details the challenges students faced and some of the ways those challenges were overcome in 2012. In the report, Campus Vote Project provides specific examples of some of the creative approaches from last year and what can be expected in 2013.
Over the past year Campus Vote Project has worked with administrators and student organizations on college campuses throughout the country to help students overcome a variety of barriers that often discourage them from voting. Through this experience, the project observed several trends in the student voting experience.
In 2012, young adults, ages 18-29, made up almost 19% of the electorate. While this is a slight increase from 2008, when students move to a new community to attend college they often face obstacles to voting that can drive down participation. These include:
· Not knowing voter registration rules and deadlines,
· Not having acceptable ID for voter registration or voting purposes,
· Confusion about where to vote,
· Lack of transportation to the polls, and
· Election officials or poll workers who are unaware or unsympathetic to student voting challenges.
In addition to new laws in 2011 and 2012, intimidation from elected officials and dissemination of incorrect information created barriers for students.
To overcome these challenges in 2012, students, administrators, faculty, voting rights advocates, and others worked together to educate students and provide information on deadlines, where to vote, and making sure they had the proper information so they were able to cast their ballot.
A copy of the report can be found here: http://bit.ly/ZNL46w
For more information go to: www.campusvoteproject.orgFor more information contact: Kristen Muthig, 202-331-0114, kmuthig@fairelectionsnetwork.com or
Dan Vicuna, 202-331-0114, dvicuna@fairelectionsnetwork.com
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Campus Vote Project (CVP) is a project of the Fair Elections Legal Network (FELN). FELN is a national, nonpartisan advocacy organization whose mission is to remove barriers to registration and voting for traditionally underrepresented constituencies and improve overall election administration through administrative, legal, and legislative reform.
 Join Virginia county registrars, colleges and universities as they share best practices and train those interested in continuing electoral engagement into the Fall 2013 election. CEEP Founder and author Paul Loeb will kick off the civic engagement conversation by sharing the national momentum and funding outlook for electoral education. Kathryn Mangus and her Office of Student Media team will facilitate a dialogue on a state-wide social media strategy based on their lessons learned from MasonVotes, the most comprehensive on-line electoral education campaign. Dr. Karen Kennedy Schultz and her student team from Shenandoah University will train campuses on their successful implementation of Northwestern University's UVote Project, a peer-to-peer education model.
To register for the meeting, click here.
 VCU's Democracy Cup Team (Jeff South) The Campus Election Engagement Project worked with more than 750 colleges and universities to engage their campuses and communities in the 2012 election. Within Virginia higher education, the following four campuses rose to the top: Mary Baldwin College, George Mason University, Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Wesleyan College. These outstanding campuses, in addition to the Honorable Mention of the College of William & Mary, received the Democracy Cup Award during the Active Citizens Conference in Williamsburg on February 16, 2013.
At George Mason University, the campus-wide program is best captured at MasonVotes.gmu.edu. Among other things, this all-encompassing partnership engaged student leaders with the Office of Student Media in posting YouTube videos of interviews, and on-line student opinion polls. Education and outreach activities extended to all GMU campuses.
In Richmond, Jackie Smith-Mason led Virginia Commonwealth University’s team. Professors Jeff South and Marcus Messner offered a communications class in which students from the Honors College used their mascot to encourage their peers to register to vote and get engaged with the slogan, Uncle Ram Wants You. Students also wrote issue briefs and posted them to their social media sites created as a part of this class. Through the work of ASPiRE Professor Nannette Bailey and the student efforts of Symone Simmons, the education campaign did not just reach campus, but extended into the Mosby community, working alongside local residents.
In Staunton, Mary Baldwin College engaged students in a political science simulation class led by Dr. Laura Van Assendelft. Students conducted interviews, reported on local candidates, analyzed issues and hosted live election coverage. Dr. Steve Grande served as campus coordinator.
In Staunton, Mary Baldwin College engaged students in a political science simulation class led by Dr. Laura Van Assendelft. Students conducted interviews, reported on local candidates, analyzed issues and hosted live election coverage. Dr. Steve Grande served as campus coordinator.
In Virginia Beach, Virginia Wesleyan College’s campus-wide efforts were organized through their Office of Community Service under the leadership of Director Diane Hotaling. VWC faculty, staff and students partnered with civic groups in their community to host a variety of voter education, registration and participation programs.
In honor of GMU’s leadership, a state-wide gathering will be held on April 19th at their law school campus in Arlington to share best practices and train those interested in continuing electoral engagement into the Fall 2013 election. To RSVP for the April 19th meeting click here.
Some preliminary numbers from our friends at CIRCLE indicate how successful CEEP and our partner organizations and campuses have been this year, and how much impact it had. Early exit polls Tuesday showed that, contrary to all expectations, this year's youth vote (ages 18-29) was up one percent nationally from 2008 as a percentage of overall turnout. CIRCLE also estimates that youth turnout for this week's election was at least 49.3 percent with 97 percent of precincts counted (potentially reaching 51 percent overall), up from 48.3 percent at the same point in 2008. In the presidential race, given that this segment went heavily for Obama, the youth vote was the margin of victory in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia - a swing of 80 electoral votes. Had all of these states flipped, Mitt Romney would be President-Elect today, and the composition of the U.S. Senate would also be different.
One final tidbit: Relatively few youth (compared to other age groups) were contacted by the presidential campaigns - underscoring, as well, the critical work we've done in both outreach and voter education.
Of course, not all youth ages 18-29 are students, and not all students are youth - but these broad, preliminary numbers demonstrate the power that students and that campus civic engagement work have in shaping our national discourse. The influence is just as great in statewide and local races. Your work this year made a big, big difference!
Polls are now closed on the West Coast, and while votes are still being tallied across the Lower 48, one thing is already clear: voter turnout rates in general, and youth voting rates in particular, was - contrary to some predictions - if anything up from 2008.
No matter who wins at the local, state, or national level, having more people vote is a victory for everybody. So is helping people to cast their votes more knowledgeably. Thank you to everyone reading this - students, volunteers, state and national staff people from CEEP and all our partner organizations, and concerned citizens everywhere - for helping to demonstrate that despite the flaws of America's electoral system, the simple act of voting still matters. A lot. The efforts of each of you have helped make this election season a resounding success.
In the coming days we'll be sharing stories from campuses, polling stations, and this fall's voter registration and voter education efforts, as well as gathering reports from the field and soliciting your feedback on what CEEP did well and what it can do better next year. But for the moment, do something nice for yourself. You've earned it! And, from all of us on the CEEP national staff, a heartfelt thank you!
Some key information:
1-866-OUR-VOTE: Make sure students, staff and faculty know they can call this number to verify their registration status, locate their polling place, learn what ID they may need at the polls, and get answers to other election-related questions. The toll-free line is open from 6 AM until the polls close nation wide on Election Day. You can also email info@866ourvote.org for info. On Election Day, if you encounter long lines, your right to vote is questioned, or you see other voters having difficulty, please call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) immediately: The hotline will have people standing to help. There is also a Spanish language line - 1-866-VE-Y-VOTA (1-866-839-8682) for those more comfortable conversing en Espanol.
Hurricane Sandy Update: The governors of both New York and New Jersey have announced that they will allow voters to cast provisional ballots at any polling place in their respective states. However, voters will not be able to vote for local races - only national and statewide - if they are voting outside that area. New Jersey has additionally announced that it will allow displaced voters to vote by fax or e-mail. (Should such voting be successful, it may set a precedent for future online voting. Five states already allow online voter registration.) ion.) Election Protection has also put together a helpful breakdown of changes to state voting procedures in states impacted by Sandy.
Election Protection Smartphone app: This is a great way for students glued to their mobile devices to get all the information they need, including registration verification, looking up their polling place, reviewing key voting rules and regulations for their state, and contacting Election Protection via phone or email to report a problem or get answers to their questions. You can download it right here; you can also text OURVOTE to 90975 to download the app.
Finding your precinct: Students and others (outside New York and New Jersey) who aren't sure where they're supposed to vote can text "where" to 877877; they'll receive a response asking for the address on their registration, and then they will immediately receive the location of their polling place. Make sure students in your state and on your campuses know about this handy tool.
National CEEP staff Jonathan Romm and Geov Parrish will be also available all day on Election Day to help with resources for any problems not covered by the above items. Before noon Eastern Time, contact Jonathan at 414-232-0592 or jsromm@gmail.com; after noon ET, Geov will be at 206-547-4619 and geovparrish@gmail.com through the end of polling on the West Coast.
Election Day is the payoff for months of hard work by national and state CEEP staff, administrators, faculty members, and students. Thanks to each of you, and make sure everyone you know votes!
Election Protection has put together a helpful breakdown of changes to state voting procedures in the region devastated by the recent hurricane. Most states hard-hit by the storm have made changes to their procedures to make it easier for those displaced or disadvantaged in the wake of Hurricane Sandy to cast their votes. Make sure anyone you know in these states who needs more time to get his or her ballot in has the most up-to-date information.
 Paul's page on the Huffington Post now includes CEEP's nonpartisan voter guides to major races, which can help students and others figure out who to vote for. Our guide to the presidential election is right here, and Paul's main page includes links to excellent summaries of the candidates' positions on major issues in tight, controversial Senate races such as Arizona, between Richard Carmona and Jeff Flake; Missouri, between Todd Akin and Claire McCaskill; and Indiana, between Joe Donnelly and Richard Mourdock. If you've got a contentious Senate race in your state and students hungry for information on the candidates, we've got you covered.
 From our friends at Rock the Vote:
We're four days out! And in these final days, Rock the Vote will be rocking the calls. You see, if you ask someone to vote, they are much more likely to go. It's like a party - people only come if they are asked. So the idea is: let's invite as many young people as we can to the polls.
Between now and Tuesday, we will call thousands of young registered voters and tell them to get out there and vote on Election Day (and maybe even answer some of their questions along the way). But with your help, we can reach even more people with a GOTV message.
- Rock the Calls on your own - Join the massive national phonebank - by making a few calls of your own. It's really simple. And we even have an app for it. You can do it all on your smartphone (OR with a phone and a tablet/computer). Just click here. Agree to the terms (no prank calls please!) and read the script. Then, start calling! Seriously - you can call five voters in 10 minutes.
- Host a phonebank - Invite your crew (friends, family, colleagues, classmates) to take two hours in the next few days (or more!). Ask them to help us phonebank young voters across the country. Rock the Vote will provide the technology and the call scripts (and maybe even some Rock the Vote swag, if you send us an address to ship the gear). Here's a quick guide. And all you need is a phone, internet connection, and enthusiasm. We know that pledging to vote works, and that making a plan for Election Day works too. And that's what we're asking people to do on these calls. That's why this is so important. It is proven that friendly GOTV reminder phone calls increase turnout. Not to mention, it's also a fun way to volunteer for democrac
- Just help us spread the word that making calls is easy, fun, and really important
- On Twitter: We're rocking the vote by making calls & asking people to vote on E-Day. Join me! Go to http://bit.ly/TeA3YC. #WeWill #GoVote
- On Facebook: I'm doing my part and calling young voters to make sure they have the info they need to get to the polls on Election Day. Join me! Just go to http://bit.ly/TeA3YC to get started. Let's rock out these calls, so we can rock the vote on November 6th.
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