Voter Education Assignment

Young people vote at lower rates than older Americans, but not because they are less interested in politics. Instead, studies have shown that young people are more likely to be deterred by the wide range of hurdles they have to overcome before casting a ballot—for example, they have to register (and decide where to register), apply for an absentee ballot if they are voting in their home county, learn about the various people on the ballot, figure out where their closest polling place is, and bring the right form of ID to the polls. This assignment is designed to help students in the broader university community leap over those hurdles by creating educational materials that will help them at each step of the way. Students are assigned to groups; each group chooses one area of the voting process and creates a brief “explainer” about that topic—an infographic, video, tiktok, poster, set of Instagram posts…whatever they think will best convey the information the community needs to be able to vote in November.

In creating the voter education materials students will:
1. Explain key elements of the voting process to a general audience;
2. Create an engaging and informative presentation;
3. Collaborate with peers; and
4. Promote non-partisan civic engagement.