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.
In response to the introduction of the HSVA, Clarissa Unger, Director of Civic Engagement for Young Invincibles, issued the following statement:
“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.”
While young adults have historically voted at the lowest rates of any age group in national elections, voter turnout among people ages 18-to-29 increased 10 percent in the 2018 midterm elections, jumping from 21 percent of young people in the 2014 midterms to 31 percent in the midterms. To build on this momentum, the HSVA requires colleges and universities to make a “good-faith effort” to distribute voter registration forms, by adding much-needed clarity and support for voter registration.
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.
For instance, under the bill, higher education institutions are expected to email students twice a year, and no less than 30 days before voter registration deadlines for federal and state elections, with links to voter registration information. It would also close the current loophole in the provision that exempts colleges and universities in certain states and would require every campus in every state to comply.
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.
Organizations supporting the HSVA include:
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