For student organizers: road to election day timeline

As a student organizer, you can begin planning voter registration, education, and mobilization activities as early as the spring semester before an election. Voting efforts happen year round, so plan early.

SPRING SEMESTER:

January/February:

See the “Getting Started: Making Your Campus Voter Friendly” section. This sheet has tips on how to learn about existing programming on your campus, where you can find support, different goals to set, and links to campus planning information.
Remember to keep the events in your campus plan politically neutral so you can reach more potential voters

Learn more about writing a campus plan and how to get recognition for it at www.voterfriendlycampus.org

March/beginning of April:

After you’ve written a draft of your campus plan, you can contact local elections officials for their thoughts (see “Meeting with Local Elections Officials”) and delegating duties and tasks.
If there are primaries for the upcoming election that occur before the end of the spring semester, you can organize primary election events including:

Advertising your state’s primary elections with posters, flyers, and emails from your campus administrators, faculty, and student groups.
Voter registration drives—some states have “closed primaries” so research how party affiliation affects students’ ability to participate in primary elections and then students know about their options. (See “Registering Students to Vote.”)
Begin voter education efforts to help students learn about registering, voting, and the candidates. See “Voter Education Campaigns.”
Organize Get Out The Vote (GOTV) activities (see October below for ideas) for primary elections in your state.

End of April/May:

Schedule an end-of-semester meeting for your campus plan team.
Finish your primary election GOTV efforts.
Think ahead to the Fall Semester. Are there proposals for funds, events, and programs that need to be submitted to prior to the start of the semester. Are there orientation or welcome activities that occur over the summer or at the beginning of the semester that could include voter registration and voter education components that need to be planned for?

FALL SEMESTER:

September:

Week 1:
Start planning your National Voter Registration Day (NVRD) (www.nationalvoterregistrationday.org) event! See “Registering Students to Vote.”

Week 2:
Begin completing tasks for NVRD and other voter registration programs.

Week 3:
Advertise your NVRD event. Share the NVRD graphics. Train volunteers to support voter registration events.

Week 4:
Have an awesome NVRD!

October:

Week 1:

Have residential life require resident advisors to include voter education in their residence halls.

Bulletin boards with voter information
Conduct residence programming on voter registration and how to vote.
Passing out reminders to vote to residents.

Post and share your school’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram posts with Election Day graphics.

Week 2:

Ask local candidates or a campaign representative (remain politically neutral by asking all candidates for a certain office) to speak on campus, possible events include:

Luncheon promoting civil dialogue about election
On-campus debates
Campaign speeches
Issue forums relevant to upcoming election topics

Write a blog post for your school website about why you vote and the importance of voting to your campus community
Write an article about the local, state, or federal elections in a student publication, or submit a letter about the importance of voting.

Week 3:

Craft campus-wide emails reminding students of everything they need to know before Election Day and work with administrators to send the emails to the campus. Have them come for a recognizable
figure on campus such as the President, Mascot, or student leader. These should include:

Registration deadlines (if applicable)
Nearest polling locations (www.vote.org/polling-place-locator)
Deadline to send in absentee or vote-by-mail ballot
Candidates up for election
Voter ID requirements
Services available to transport students to polling places
Hours of polling locations
Access to early voting
Volunteer opportunities

Week 4:

Ask your administrative contact, preferably the dean of students or college president, and professors to write an all-campus email reminding students why they should vote—create a sense of community and inclusiveness among voters.
Post and share your school’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram posts with Election Day graphics.
Send back Pledge to Vote postcards that students filled out during your “Raising Awareness of Elections” campaign.
Inform students about the Election Protection hotline (1-866-OUR-VOTE), which can be used by anyone on or before Election Day. Check www.866ourvote.org for more details and for hotlines with language support in Spanish, Arabic, and multiple Asian languages.
Let students know if your district has same day registration.
Canvass residence halls, if allowed, with flyers and literature on the upcoming election

November:

Week 1:

Send out links to GOTV volunteer activities with nonpartisan organizations.
Help students finalize their Election Day plans.
On Election Day, send out reminders and post photos of volunteers and voters being engaged.
Plan an activity to raise the visibility of Election Day on-campus, from having a march to the polls to throwing a party in the middle of campus.

Week 2:

Send thank yous to volunteers, committee members, administrators and LEOs who helped you execute your student engagement plan.
Schedule a debrief to discuss how your plan went with your team and partners and identify lessons learned that can be used to improve your efforts in future years.

If you have questions or are experiencing problems voting, call the Election Protection Hotline and speak with a volunteer to get help.

For student organizers: road to election day timeline

November:

Business Communications:

Donations (checks made out to 'Fair Elections Center'):

Phone:

Email:

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