1. 33 Things You Can Still Do to Engage Students in the Election
Here’s a quick list of things schools can still do to get students engaged in the election, pulled together
from all the good ideas that different campuses have come up with. We’ve broken them down by
category, though some overlap. We hope these ideas will help you think of last minute ways to
engage students in voter education, voter protection, getting out the vote, and finding ways to stay
involved the election.
The key in these final weeks is to follow through on good ideas already begun and pick new ideas that
will complement other activities. Most new ideas will need to be low-cost, simple and creative to pull
off in this short time frame, but any of these could still make a significant difference. We hope you’ll
scan these ideas and pick some things to do that you aren’t already doing. Also, take a look at the
listed ideas that we got from you!
GENERAL VISIBILITY
1. Guerrilla theater! In 2008 the University of Colorado at Denver ordered Obama and McCain masks
and gigantic boxing gloves and used them to hold mock fights and breakdancing contests all over
campus. They were hugely popular with students, so if you want to order Romney/Obama masks
they're $19.95 each, orderable here. And this is where you get the two pairs of $9.99 gigantic blow
up boxing gloves. You can order either with two-day or next-day shipping. The possibilities with
such approaches are limited only by your imagination: Hold amusing or serious skits about voting,
publicize issues or debates, and gather crowds in visible places to interest students who might ignore
tables or signs. Use these events to hand out voter pledges and voting information. Be creative and
try to entertain as you engage and educate.
2. Halloween activities: Trick or Vote canvassing on or around Halloween. Materials are available
online so you don’t need to start from scratch. Take advantage of parties happening on that day to
spread your voter protection, voter education and get out the vote messages. Hand out candy
messages: Get some bags of candy and stick or tie small message to them (“vote on nov 6”, “bring
ID to the polls”, “what time are you voting?”, “how are you getting to the polls?”, “what kind of ID
do I need? www.866ourvote.org,” “election party, _____ dorm,” etc.) Then put on a costume (or
not) and hand them out on campus—having more information available can be helpful but people
are much more likely to take a small piece of candy than a flyer.
3. Plan parades to early voting sites or polling places and absentee ballot parties. University of
Colorado Denver also did a parade of student voters to the nearby early voting site. Schools where
sites are too far to walk can do this with carpools or school-sponsored shuttles. Early voting is key:
It avoids the problems of jammed student schedules or long polling place lines, and gives students a
chance to correct registration problems. On November 6th, you can repeat these efforts to make
voting a community activity and celebrate having so many people turn out. Find creative ways to
2. keep folks occupied (like providing some sort of entertainment or snacks) while people wait at the
polling place for their friends to make it through the lines. Westfield State in Massachusetts held an
absentee ballot party, where students could get their necessary ID info photocopied and have snacks
while privately casting their ballots, addressing them, and stacking them to be mailed. Other schools
have given students stamps to mail back their ballots, so they won’t have to hunt them down. And
election night parties let students come together to watch the returns come in.
4. Display posters, banners, signs and sandwich boards as permitted around campus with various
messages encouraging voting, reminding people of absentee ballot request deadlines, and educating
them about what to bring to the polls. Use existing templates, or create your own. Hand out iVote
stickers, which can go on everything from book covers to water bottles to bicycles. You can also
provide chalk for students to chalk campus walkways with various messages and images to
encourage voting, share websites and announce activities.
5. Write op-eds and letters to editors for newspapers about the importance of each person’s vote
and your campus initiatives to engage students. Encourage students to make time both to arrive at
educated choices on issues and candidates and to figure out how and when they’ll fit voting into
their lives. Remind people to exercise their right to vote and be prepared in case the lines are long.
6. Get students to sign a “Pledge to Vote”: Create a generic card to sign or send them to various
online pledges (e.g., Rock the Vote) and pledges to vote for candidates and issues of folks’ choice. If
you create a pledge card, you could also include on it places for people to make specific
commitments to themselves about WHEN they’ll learn about the issues and candidates and decide
how to vote, HOW they’ll cast their ballot (at their polling place, at home via absentee ballot or by
early voting), WHAT TIME they’ll got to the polls (or fill out their ballot), WHAT they’ll take with
them to vote (e.g., identification, sample ballot, directions to polling place, friends), OTHER
ARRANGEMENTS they’ll need to make to fit voting into their schedule and actually get to the
polls, etc. Make sure to encourage faculty to distribute pledge cards in class and allow class time
for students to make a plan and research the issues and candidates.
7. Use social networking sites to carry your message. Use existing groups and causes and encourage
students to post onto their sites so their friends will vote. Distribute the Election Protection
Smartphone app via your campus IT department, and encourage students to use it to register, check
registration and ID rules, and find out and tell their friends where their precincts are located.
Consider placing ads during the last two weeks on Facebook, targeting students on your campus.
Perhaps do a new ad each day with a slightly different message, including a countdown to remaining
deadlines and to Election Day. After the election, continue with “what’s next”-type messages to keep
people involved. You can also register at www.Campusvotemap.info so other administrators,
faculty and staff on your campus can contact you to help engage your students. People in every
academic discipline and higher education professional network will hear about the project through
their national associations. Our VoteMap lets them connect with you so you get valuable allies.
8. Set up mock polling places, perhaps in the student union, with sample ballots for students to
practice voting and consider how they’ll vote. University of St. Francis (IN) conducted mock
elections as part of their registration drives. Such dry runs now for new voters can help people assure
they bring what they’ll need with them if they vote at the polls and encourage them to learn about
issues and candidates before they enter the polling booth on November 6th. Have written
information available to help students both with the mechanics and the issues they’ll need to know
about to vote. You can also have stamps available so you can encourage absentee voters who
complete their real ballots to send them in immediately. And set up computers with lists of
informational sites like League of Women Voters, Votesmart.org, NY Times Election Guide, On
3. The Issues, Public Agenda & Vote Gopher.com for issues and candidates and The Brennan Center
for Justice &1-866-Our-Vote for voter protection issues and local rules.
9. Publicize polling locations near campus, including directions, hours and transportation options.
Also, check state voter registration and ID rules, which should be posted on the election section
of your state Campus Compact affiliate or other CEEP-affiliated state election engagement project
sites. Many state rules have changed a lot since 2008, so it’s critical to be on top of new rules and
ensure you have accurate information to share. For instance, Pennsylvania schools now need
expiration dates on student IDs for them to serve as IDs at the polls, but the new rules can be met if
schools add expiration stickers. A new Florida law, for the moment invalidated by a judge, requires
groups registering voters to register with the state and turn in registrations within a two-day window.
STUDENT VOLUNTEERING
10. It’s not too late to ask faculty to give students extra credit for volunteering in the campaigns of
their choice and reporting back through journals, papers or classroom presentations. If
students get involved now, they’re more likely to be involved in future campaigns. Many of the ideas
in this list parallel campaign activities and faculty and staff can encourage students to participate
directly, in ways that give them a chance to give voice to their own particular convictions.
11. Volunteering at the polls or for initiatives and campaigns on Election Day is a great way to get
more involved in the process. Students can knock on doors, make calls, or volunteer as poll-watchers
with the candidates of their choice—playing a critical role in getting out the vote for the campaigns
they support. They can also go to the national sites of their preferred candidates and make phone
calls to key voters in other states or other areas of their own state. Finally, students can volunteer
with local voter protection efforts through the existing campaigns. Law students can play a
particular role volunteering with the non-partisan Election Protection coalition.
12. Publish a list with campaign contact information (for all parties, candidates and initiatives) in the
school newspaper and encourage students to volunteer in these ongoing efforts. Also include
campus-initiated volunteer opportunities (like College Republicans or College Democrats or some
listed in this document) that are in place so people can plug in easily.
13. Students can also sign up (and even get paid) as non-partisan poll-workers.
EDUCATION ON ISSUES, CANDIDATES and THE ELECTION
14. Display information on candidate platforms in the student union, blown up large enough so it’s
visible to passing students. Also, publicize information on initiatives, which are likely to be far less
high-profile and therefore a source of far more confusion. You can find downloadable information
on your state’s initiatives here.
15. Ask your election board or League of Women’s Voters for the official non-partisan voters
pamphlets for the area and place copies in key locations around campus. The League Guides
may also have information on more local races, which are extremely important but often overlooked.
16. Hold formal and informal debates and discussion sessions where students can discuss issues and
candidates with other students and help decide how they want to vote. Screen election-related films
such as Iron-Jawed Angels, The Young Candidate or Journeys through the Red, White and Blue.
4. 17. Post lists of good websites for learning about issues and candidates in libraries, study areas,
dorms and places where students use computers.
18. Make a fun Election Quiz for students to take in class, at lunch, at home. See a sample for Indiana.
GET OUT THE VOTE
19. Work with the campus IT department to send reminder emails, voice-mails and text messages
to every student on campus. Messages can include links to resources such as www.govote.org
where students can find out where to vote and what they need to bring, and sites where they can
verify registration. Make sure to check out the Campus Election Engagement Project website to
view our latest resources, including new online tools. Encouraging students to make a logistical plan
for how and when they’ll cast their vote is helpful in addition to a simple reminder. Check that key
campus websites have been updated to include links to such useful voter information sites and
include a countdown to Election Day. If you distributed the Election Protection smartphone app,
follow up with everyone who signed up. Ideally at least one message could go out before deadlines
to order an absentee ballot as a reminder for those cannot get to their polling place or vote early, and
a second message could be sent on November 5th to remind all others to vote at the polls.
20. If the prime polling place is off-campus, offer rides to the polls and encourage carpooling and
going to the polls with friends. Some campuses have rented buses or vans to shuttle students from
campus to their polling place, having worked out liability details.
21. Ask faculty to let students miss classes, if need be, to vote. This is particularly valuable at
community colleges, where students often have little time between work and school. In 2008,
Virginia’s Liberty University cancelled all classes on Election Day and scheduled shuttle buses to
take students to the polls. Their 10,500 students’ usual academic routine was replaced with an all-
day campus concert that turned into an election party when the returns began to come in.
22. Parades to early voting sites or polling places. University of Colorado Denver is doing a parade
of student voters to the nearby early voting site. Schools where the sites are farther away can do
this with carpools. Early voting is key, because it avoids the problems of jammed schedules or long
polling place lines, plus it gives students a chance to correct any problems. Then on November 6th, it
can be repeated to make voting a community activity and celebrate having so many people voting.
Plan for entertainment and snacks near the polling place while students wait in line or wait for
their friends to make it through the lines.
23. Ask students to text their friends and send Facebook messages to their friends with voting
reminders leading up to Election Day and on the day itself.
24. Encourage “Take a Date to the Polls” and “Real Friends Don’t Let Friends Vote Alone”
concepts to foster support within peer groups, using posters, messages, Facebook ads, etc.
25. Organize dorm storming on Election Day. Knock on doors and offer rides or company going to
the polls to registered students blowing it off at the last minute. You’ll have to coordinate between
Residence Life, Campus Security and Student Activities to make sure student groups have access to
the dorms. Make “I voted” buttons or stickers to give to people you find who have voted and
invite others to get theirs once they do vote.
5. 26. Phone bank all registered voters whose numbers you have. If you did a registration drive you
should have them already, or check with the county election board to purchase copies of voter rolls.
27. Plan Election Night Parties to watch returns in student unions, dormitories, fraternities, sororities
and other places where students gather. Distribute a list of campaign parties around town as well so
students can join in the celebrations in the community as well, particularly with campaigners.
ELECTION PROTECTION
28. Encourage students to verify their registration, and to address any problems before it’s too late.
29. Double-check state ID rules just before the election, and let every student know what they need
to bring to the polls. In many states, ongoing court cases may change the rules a month or less
before the election. If useful, issue appropriate issue zero balance utility bills or personalized letters
from the president to provide ID for students who’ve registered at dorm addresses.
30. Distribute the election info number 1-866-OUR-VOTE, which connects you to volunteer lawyers
who can answer questions and correct misinformation from poll-workers, make posters with info
such as voter ID rules and polling locations, and plaster the campus with them. Have student
volunteers outside the polls with the election information number in case students have problems. If
problems do occur (and with this many new voters and twists and turns of election rules, they may
well), it’s critical that any student whose vote is challenged knows to call this number for how to
respond and cast their vote.
POST-ELECTION ENGAGEMENT
31. Ask Faculty to keep students engaged post-election. This is especially important since most voters
have no plans to stay engaged after voting. This could include reports from those who volunteered in
election activities or pledges and planning to stay involved on issues they care about.
32. Set up forums for students to discuss the “meaning” of the election results in the weeks after the
election. Invite parties and issue groups to table so students can consider ways to stay involved.
Student government and student groups can also convene town hall meetings, where students
examine community needs, define local and national issues and explore on courses of action. These
could also draw in existing student-engagement groups like the PIRGs.
33. If your school increased its student turnout from 2008, celebrate publicly. Make sure every
student knows. Find out what methods worked best, and make plans for how to build on it and learn
from the experience of other schools. Our Campus Election Engagement Project will be updating our
website to incorporate the great new ideas that people have come up with, so check back for
examples to help carry your efforts forward, and send any great stories or examples to CEEP staffers
you’ve been working with or campuselect@gmail.com. Thanks for everything you’ve done!