Earlier today, the Help Students Vote Act (HSVA) was reintroduced in the United States House of Representatives and Senate. Sponsored by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-8), Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Sen. Dick Durbin of IL, the HSVA would ensure higher education institutions are supporting student voter registration.
“Across the country, students look to their universities and colleges as a resource as they transition into adulthood and become active and engaged citizens. By ensuring campus vote coordinators are available to answer students’ questions about registering to vote, finding their polling location, and actually casting their ballot, the Help Students Vote Act empowers young people to make civic participation a core value in their community and ensure their voice is represented at every level of government.”
Because higher education institutions can serve as powerful incubators for civic engagement, the HSVA encourages schools and universities to address the unique barriers students face in registering to vote and voting, including confusion about the registration requirements, deadlines, and discouraging and misleading information.
Additionally, under the act colleges and universities would designate a “campus vote coordinator” to answer questions from students. Lastly, the act would create a system of accountability to ensure institutions abide by the provision while opening up additional grant funding to campuses that greatly exceed the requirements.
A Band of Voters Alliance for Youth Organizing American College Personnel Association (ACPA) American Political Science Association (APSA) Andrew Goodman Foundation Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO) Association of Young Americans Black Girls Vote Campus Compact Mid-Atlantic Campus Vote Project Civic Nebraska CivicTN Common Cause Common Cause NC HBCU Student Action Alliance ConnPIRG Student Chapters Demos Emgage Emory University Engage Miami Feminist Majority Foundation Forefront Forward Montana Generation Citizen Generation Progress Georgia Shift Ideas42 Iowa Campus Compact LeadMN Macalester Student Choices – Student Voices Mi Familia Vota Motivote MOVE San Antonio National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) National Association of Social Workers National Education Association National Voter Corps Nebraskans for Civic Reform New Era Colorado New Georgia Project NJPIRG Student Chapters Ohio Campus Compact Ohio Student Association One Wisconsin Institute Oregon Bus Project Oregon Student Association OSPIRG Students PARADIGM pm llp Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions People Demanding Action Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM) Rock the Vote Rollins College Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Spread the Vote State Voices The Century Foundation Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University University of Michigan University of Wisconsin – Madison Virginia21 Walk2Vote Young Invincibles Young People For (YP4) YVote