Storm Dolfi, Christiana Ford, MacKenzie Johnston, Jessica Kotik, Molly McNamara, Kelly Nielsen, Amy Spanos, Blake Strozyk, Clara Sullivan, Tommy Watral
If students are educated and participate in government, we will have more well-rounded, socially aware Golden Flashes. ● Voter registration is at an all time low ● In 2008, 6 million Americans didn’t vote ● Only 45% of 18-29 year-olds voted in 2012 ● Only 19.9% of 18-29 year-olds cast ballots in 2014. That was the lowest youth turnout rate ever recorded. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/01/15/seeking-political-support-colleges-prod-students-to-vote http://civicyouth.org/quick-facts/youth-voting/
Implement Voter Registration ● 17 year olds can still register to vote if they will be 18 by the general election ● International students benefit by learning about America’s election process ● Presidential election years are the most popular elections, but midterms are just as important
What are Other Schools Doing? ● Registration at a big football game ● Mass emails of voting dates & registration ● Greek Life held registration on student green ● Penn State hosted a voter registration day
http://news.psu.edu/story/145951/2012/10/04/psu-votes-host-voter-registration-day-oct-8-state-deadline
Implementing Universal Voter Registration at Kent State: ● Meghan Factor had some questions regarding ○
What other organizations were doing?
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How will the FYE instructors will be prepared?
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How the program will be continued in years to come?
● Dedicate a day of FYE to voter registration/education ● Resources on Blackboard page ● Political Science Club members will provide FYE instructors with up-to-date information
Sharing Voting Information with Campus Vote Project Students Online program designed to easily inform and register students Simple, single sheet flyer with information about registration & application for absentee ballots. Can be posted on Flashline or Blackboard. FYE teachers can post this on Blackboard or pass out voter registration forms: http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/elections/Voters/register.aspx For Ohio: http://campusvoteproject.org/ohio/ Out-of-state students: http://campusvoteproject.org/students/
Campus Vote Project Flyer
Getting Informed on Candidates & Issues: ● Look up your state: http://www.politics1.com/oh.htm ● What’s on the ballot: http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/LegnAndBallotIssues/BallotBoard.aspx#issues ● Research candidates: https://votesmart.org/
Undeniably Kent State “More than any other kind of population, members of university communities come together to learn, to discover, to create and, yes, to question — but all focused on the desire to make our world a better place. This work cannot occur in a vacuum. It can’t occur easily online. It must occur on campus. That’s because it’s all about people — people who, individually and collectively, breathe glorious life into an institutional mission. In the process, learning communities like ours make a profound, positive, real-world difference.” -President Beverly Warren’s State of the University Address