Urban Voters Campaign
In the Fall of 2006, PHENND joined several other organizations in co-sponsoring the Urban Voters Campaign for the second year in a row. Spearheaded by the Institute for the Study of Civic Values, the Urban Voters Campaign was designed to increase voter turnout in and around Philadelphia. PHENND encouraged member campuses to participate in the following ways:
1) Sponsor a Voter Registration Drive on the campus. To assist, PHENND provided materials on absentee voting for the region and the rest of the United States.
Download materials on Absentee Voting
in Pennsylvania (PDF | 102 K)
in New Jersey (PDF | 119K)
elsewhere in the U.S. (PDF | 78K)
Important info about student voter registration
http://www.dos.state.pa.us/voting/lib/voting/guide/student_voting_guide.pdf
2) Hold a Voter Education event on the campus. To assist, PHENND produced a workshop guide entitled “Why Should I Vote.”
Download PHENND’s new workshop guide “Why Should I Vote?”
whyvote2004.doc (Word 2002 | 240K)
Note: This is a comprehensive overview of voting history, current voting practices, reasons to vote, and how to vote in Pennsylvania. It is designed as a 2-hour workshop but may take longer depending on the audience. Please feel free to customize and modify to your particular tastes and setting. This workshop is also untested - so if you use it please let us know so we can improve the workshop for future use.
3) Recruit students to act as “Urban Voter Volunteers.” The premise of the Urban Voters Campaign is that if someone is reminded to vote, they will. Anyone, including college students, could pledge to remind their neighbors, friends, fraternity, residence hall, etc., to vote on Election Day. The Urban Voters Campaign supplied reminder postcards and tips for being an Urban Voter Volunteer.
4) Recruit students to volunteer to register others to vote. Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) mounted a campaign to register all eligible Philadelphia public high school students. Project H.O.M.E.’s Vote for Homes! Campaign registers homeless and low-income individuals each year. ACORN was also active in registering individuals in low-income neighborhoods. PHENND also encouraged campuses to consider possible ways to get involved on election day such as encouraging students to offer child supervision at local polling places, making it easier for parents to vote.
5) Help run a mock election at a local school. In 2005, the Urban Voter Campaign launched it’s newest initiative, a Kids Vote Mock Election. Operating in several schools, volunteers ran mock elections in elementary and middle school classrooms to engage students in the election. In 2006, volunteers were also recruited to continue this project.
If you would like more information on the Urban Voters Campaign, please call Hillary at 215-573-2379.