Intro
The most effective ways to engage students with Motivote is to reach them where they already are. Since all students take classes, including information about voting on course syllabi and LMS are great ways to get in front of all potential voters.
Encourage faculty to include your campus Motivote resource on their syllabus and LMS portal used for coursework, grading and announcements (ie. Canvas or Blackboard.)
The "Why"
Per Campus Election Engagement Project, one of the fundamental ways faculty establish community norms is through syllabus language (ex: how to access disability services). Syllabuses also provide unique access to all enrolled students.
Embedding resources on how to register and vote not only educates and reminds students, but it helps "normalize" and institutionalize voter engagement on campus.
The timing is also just right: Students first see their syllabi at the beginning of the new academic year, ahead of November election registration deadlines. Students also regularly revisit syllabi throughout the semester.
Planning to give a presentation directly to a class or club meeting? Check out these real-life presentation decks and scripts from Higher Ed partners.
Sample Language
To make it simple for faculty to share your message, fill in the Motivote URL and any other campus-specific information before sharing it. For example, note campus-specific competitions or prizes that will encourage students to join.
If using Teams as part of your Motivote implementation, you can also generate team-specific invite links or QR codes for faculty. Include this in the blurb before sending it.
[CAMPUS] is excited to partner with Motivote, a nonpartisan resource, to help our community engage in democracy this year and beyond. Visit [MOTIVOTE URL] to check it out.
You can use Motivote to check your voter registration status, get reminders about important deadlines, make a voting plan, view a ballot guide and more. Plus, earn points and prizes for taking steps to get ready to vote!
This resource is 100% nonpartisan and designed to help you get informed and ready to vote. It doesn’t tell you who or what to vote for — that’s your personal choice!
No matter what state you're voting in, Motivote has you covered. Get started and make your voting plan in just a few minutes at: [MOTIVOTE URL].
Not eligible to vote in the US? You can still participate to help others get ready!
Looking for different ways to talk about Motivote or more info to include? View our Framing & FAQs guide for talking points and Email Outreach Examples.
Making The Case
In your outreach request, it's effective to include the "why" behind encouraging students to register and plan to vote in course materials:
College students are young, have little or no history of voting, and are residentially mobile, which makes them a population in great need of registering to vote.
Getting voting information from a professor or student volunteer makes a real difference. It has been shown to increase registration rates by 6 percentage points and turnout rates by approximately 2.6 percentage points.
Voting is habit-forming: Longitudinal studies show that voting in one election substantially increases the likelihood of voting in the future, so helping students vote in their first election sets them up to be a voter for life.
Many students mistakenly assume that they were registered to vote in high school, and not realize this until it's too late.
Students who did register in high school may want to to update it to their campus residence. Students have the right to register either at home or school.
Since you must be registered at your current address, students benefit from extra prompting to check their registration status since they often move year-to-year.
Students could have be purged from voter rolls if they've skipped elections in the past, and will not realize this unless they check their registration status.
In addition to these general reasons for including voting information in syllabi, you can also add subject-specific rationales.
Consider including resources from our Academic Connections guide to "make the case" for faculty to include voting information in their course content and draw connections to their subject area. For example, you can look up the content for a professor's subject area in Your Major On The Ballot and include in your ask.
Ready to start your outreach? Get started with this editable template, adapted from CEEP. Make a copy and customize it to use in your outreach to faculty.
Additional Resources
University of Michigan - Tools for Supporting Civic Engagement