Your Vote Your Voice

The 100+ independent colleges and universities in New York State urge their students and all citizens to vote. Since 1996, the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities and its member campuses have participated in the non-partisan National Campus Voter Registration Project.

Voter Registration Facts

  • The legal voting age is 18, and has been since 1972.

  • The 1998 Higher Education Act (HEA) requires that colleges and universities make “a good-faith effort” to distribute voter registration forms to all degree- and certificate-seeking students who attend classes on campus prior to the registration deadline in each federal and gubernatorial election year.

Your vote, your voice.
Voting is a right - and a responsibility. At New York State private colleges and universities, students are learning the value of being active and informed citizens through efforts to promote voter registration and turnout.

Internet Resources

To register in a state other than New York, download the Universal Voter Registration form at www.fec.gov. This is the one document that enables you to register to vote from anywhere in the country. Click on your home state, then print the form and complete it.

Follow national and state-level campaigns at http://www.vote-smart.org.

For more useful voter registration resources, visit:

Your Vote, Your Voice Resources:

New York State:

National:

Running a Voter Registration Campaign:

To help its member campuses comply with the Higher Education Act, cIcu is distributing a "Just Add People" Voter Registration Toolkit to all member campuses. Each toolkit will include NAICU’s 2008 National Campus Voter Registration Project Organizing Handbook and materials to help organize a registration drive. This year, a new interactive CD will be included in the toolkit to provide an easy way to access any of the toolkit resources. cIcu has arranged for state voter registration forms to be distributed in June 2008 by the State Board of Elections. To complement these materials, resources and helpful links are soon to be posted below.

Online Voter Registration Toolkit:

 

For details about the HEA requirements and ideas about how to run a voter registration campaign on your campus, contact Dennis Kennedy (518-436-4781; dennis@cicu.org).