FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 5, 2020
Media Contact
Rich Robinson, rrobinson@fairelectionscenter.org
New Education Effort Prepares Voters to Meet Historic Moment
WASHINGTON — With Election Day less than a month away voters are turning their attention to registration deadlines and how to best navigate voting while minimizing the health threat the Covid-19 pandemic continues to pose. To assist in this effort, Fair Elections Center and its Campus Vote Project have joined nearly 500 partners to launch today the first National Voter Education Week, which offers free informational programming, October 5-9.
This brand-new digital week of action and education will equip voters with all of the information they need to become informed, confident, and prepared. Too often, voter engagement efforts focus on registration and turnout, while skipping the important step of educating voters on the process of voting and the weight of their vote in policy decisions. So, for the first time ever, voting experts, trailblazers in civic technology, nonprofits, election officials, businesses, media, and more are bringing their expertise together under one umbrella to ensure all voters have the information they need to be #VoteReady. The effort follows the overwhelming success of National Voter Registration Day, which resulted in more than 1.5 million new voter registrations.
“Voter education is crucial to remove barriers to voting,” said Fair Elections Center President Robert Brandon. “We’re thrilled to add our state specific guides and legal expertise to National Voter Education Week so that no voter is left out and every voter has the information they need to participate in our democracy.”
“As some of the newest participants in our democracy, college students need to be welcomed and helped in navigating the system, so their voices can be heard,” said Campus Vote Project Director Mike Burns. “National Voter Education Week is the 'welcome party' student voters need, and we could not be more excited to partner with so many other dedicated organizations.”
Participants will learn everything a voter needs to know about successfully casting a ballot (and the various ways to do so) in the upcoming national election. Each day features unique programming, including:
#VoteReady: Monday, October 5th-- Voter registration is the focus for the day. Join us for a special screening of Sundance Award winning film Boys State at 8pm ET.
#MailReady: Tuesday, October 6th-- Head to Reddit /IAmA to ask Vote Early Day anything you want to know about mail in voting, starting at 1:00pm ET. Or connect on all things early voting with our friends at the Vote at Home Institute at 2pm ET.
#VotePlanReady: Wednesday, October 7th-- Join Yara Shahidi and student voters as they discuss their vote plans on Instagram Live @SLSVCoalition. New “Make a Plan” videos from Campus Vote Project are also featured.
#BallotReady Thursday, October 8th-- Make sure you’re ready to vote all the way down the ticket! Our friends at CAA Foundation, I am a Voter, and Nonprofit VOTE will take this conversation local with a Texas based webinar at 3pm ET.
#WeReady2020 Friday, October 9th-- Close out the week by “leveling up” your civic engagement by reaching out to friends and celebrating democracy! Join us on Twitch for a DJs for Democracy live party hosted by Rock the Vote in the evening!
For more events and information visit VoterEducationWeek.org.
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The Steering Committee of National Voter Education Week includes: the Andrew Goodman Foundation, APIAVote, BallotReady, the CAA Foundation, the Campus Vote Project, Democracy Works, Election Protection, Facebook, Fair Elections Center, ideas42, NAACP Youth & College Division, Nonprofit VOTE, National Vote at Home Institute, Rock the Vote, the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition, Vote Early Day
National Voter Education Week (“NVEW”) is a collaborative project led by the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition, a project of the National Conference on Citizenship, a 501(c)(3) organization (“NCoC”). NCoC is strictly nonpartisan, and does not support or oppose any candidate or party.
Fair Elections Center is a national nonpartisan and non-profit voting rights and election reform organization based in Washington, DC whose mission is to use litigation, public education, and advocacy to remove barriers to registration and voting, and to improve election administration.
Campus Vote Project is a project of Fair Elections Center and works to increase student turnout by working year-round with campus administrators and faculty to institutionalize a culture of democratic engagement.