Young voter turnout is important for democracy but historically low. Barriers include lack of information about registration and voting processes. TurboVote addresses this by providing a one-stop tool with location-specific deadlines and forms to make voting accessible. Implementation strategies discussed include on-campus tabling, integrating with student portals and events, and reminders through email and social media. Measuring success through campus voter turnout data shows tools like TurboVote increase youth participation.

2. Technology and Civic
Engagement
Increasing youth voter registration
and democratic participation in 2016

3. • Youth vote matters
• Barriers to youth participation
• Our solution
• Technology & civic engagement
• Breakouts/discussion
The Plan

4. Why does youth civic engagement matter?

5. The “Youth Vote” in 2016

6. Politicians want the youth vote

7. Youth voting is important!
• Young people are a major subset of the voting-eligible
population and their voices matter: In 2012 youth (18-
29) made up 19% of the electorate.
• Returning voters turn out at higher rates. Engaging
college student ensures the future of democratic
participation.
• Election-related activities for young people can
indirectly affect the behavior of others in their
environment.

8. The “Youth Vote” in 2016
• “Millennials” (18-34) say they want to vote in 2016.
• A Fusion poll found that 77% of millennials are “absolutely certain” or
“very likely” to vote this year.
• The number of youth votes more than tripled in Mississippi (14,000 in
2008 to 49,000 in 2016) and Nebraska (5,000 in 2008 to 16,000 in 2016)
• Iowa: 15% of total caucus goers were youths, and 2016 set a record for
Republican youth turnout.
• New Hampshire: 42% of all youth (18-29) NH residents voted tying
turnout levels in 2008 primary; that’s more than 88,000 young people
• New York: An estimated 408,000 young people (18-29) cast ballots in
New York, making up 15% of all voters in the state primary, surpassing
youth turnout in 2008 by almost 100,000 votes.

9. But historically, young people
vote at the lowest rates…

11. 18-24
18-29
25+
30+

14. So, why don’t young people vote?
Don’t they care?

15. Source: CIRCLE; Research gathered by
Pew Center for the People and the Press
“Giving Thought to the Election”
59%
“Quite a lot”
28%
“Following election
news very closely”

17. 2/3 of college students (18-24)
who did not vote in 2010 cited
lack of information about
process, not lack of interest.
SOURCE: CIRCLE

18. More than 40% of youth voters don’t know key process
information

19. Key Takeaways
• The process is complicated! And varies
substantially from state to state.
• Giving students information about how,
when, and where to vote is key to increasing
participation.
• Providing this information for local elections is
particularly important.

20. TurboVote

21. Since 2012, TurboVote has partnered with over 250 colleges
and universities and served more than 325,000 voters.

23. The TurboVote tool
makes it easy
to provide people with the
information & materials they
need to vote in every election

24. Our system manages personal election
calendars for all of our users. We track:
• Registration & absentee voting requirements
for all 50 states, so we can keep users up-to-
date with location-specific election
information
• Dates and deadlines for national, state and
local elections

25. When users need to register or request a vote-
by-mail ballot, we send them their pre-filled
forms, with stamped, addressed envelopes.

26. TurboVote sends text and email
reminders with important dates
and deadlines.
…So our users never miss
another election.

27. Voter Turnout
For users registered with TurboVote in 2012

28. Implementation

29. Bottlenecks:
On-The-Ground Online

30. On-the-Ground
Tabling
Find an active, high-traffic area on campus
Set up laptops/smartphones open to TurboVote
Grab items: food, accessories, stickers, swag
Events
Add TurboVote to already existing campus events
Host new events to implement TurboVote
NVRD, anyone?!
Orientation
Large population of students already there
Just moved/changed address
Might have recently turned 18/about to turn 18

31. Online
Email Blasts
Send from university presidents/deans to the
student body
Emphasize urgency and importance of
registering to vote and voting
Campus Computers
Place calls-to-action on university computers,
so whenever a student logs onto the network,
they have to acknowledge the call
Student Portals
Place calls-to-action or links on high- traffic
student websites, like LMSs and/or academic
portals

32. Computer Card Initiative
• Business card-sized sign was printed, cut out and
delivered to a person in each building on
campus.
• They were attached to the monitors on the
computers in each lab - over 1000 computers!
• Only cost ~$26 in removable adhesive dots,
toner, cardstock, scissors - and a lot of counting!
About 4 hours of work total.

34. Top Administrators
Send the email from the President or Dean
Specific Subject Line
Use a specific and action-oriented subject line.
Mass Emails
Short
Keep it brief!
Insert links
Place the link to your co-branded TurboVote
site early in your email.
Follow Up
Send a follow-up email that conveys a sense
of urgency (match with upcoming deadline).

35. Social Media
Facebook
Promote through Official University page, Student
Government page, College Republicans/Democrats,
etc.
Create Facebook Events to promote in-person
events, process related deadlines, etc.
Twitter
Short, simple, trendy: @TurboVote, always share
link.
Campaign Ideas
Competitions between student groups (use referral
codes), photo based campaigns, live-tweeting civic
engagement events/debates

36. Lone Star College
via Oracle PeopleSoft

37. Indiana State University
via MyISU

38. Kutztown University
via D2L, KU’s learning management system

39. Integrating voter engagement into mandatory
student “check in” process

40. Breakout Discussions
• What does voter registration and engagement look like
on your campus?
What do you do on campus that might be unique?
Why do these strategies/tactics work well on your campus?
• Identify the following if you were to pursue an IT
integration on campus:
The who
The what
The when
The why
The how

41. turbovote.tools
partnerships@turbovote.org

42. Integrate
• School-wide email
• Social Media
• Course curriculum
• Standard student processes such as:
– Course registration
– ID card
– Move in packets
– Freshman orientation
– Email login
– FYE courses

43. Civic Engagement at
Stetson University
Veronica Hernandez,
Center for Community Engagement

44. Implementation Tactics
● One-stop election website for students to use for voter
registration, education, engagement and turnout
● Team of student volunteers conduct voter registration,
education, engagement and turnout operations, called
Stetson Votes!
● Incorporation into first-year orientation, some classes and
residence halls
● In 2016…
○ Organizing Stetson Votes team around residence halls
as their “turf”
○ Email and Facebook-based targeting for commuters
○ Working to integrate into all first-year seminars

46. Measuring Stetson’s Success
● Campus GOTV using a shared campus-wide student
database
● NSLVE data from CIRCLE/Tufts
○ NSLVE: National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement
● In 2012…
○ Stetson’s voter turnout rate: 54.5%
○ Students who used TurboVote voted at a rate that was 5.6%
higher than non-TurboVote users
○ Students who registered to vote using their on-campus
address voted at a rate that was 18.1% higher than off-
campus/back-at-home users

47. Civic Engagement at
Kutztown University

48. Implementation Tactics
• Promote TurboVote at community events
• Set up info tables at student union & dining halls
• Send regular messages about the importance of
voting
• SGB hosts a popular registration day event
• Only students who sign up for TurboVote can
vote in homecoming election

49. Computer Card Initiative
• Business card-sized sign was printed, cut out and
delivered to a person in each building on
campus.
• They were attached to the monitors on the
computers in each lab - over 1000 computers!
• Only cost ~$26 in removable adhesive dots,
toner, cardstock, scissors - and a lot of counting!
About 4 hours of work total.

53. Signs of Success
• Significant turnout at polling locations that
serve students
• In 2012, nearly 1.5K students signed up.
– 1,063 for voter registration
– 662 for absentee ballot requests
• Awarded grant from Pennsylvania Campus
Compact