IU South Bend's New Project to Register 400 Young Voters for 2006 Elections

Project Part of 32-State Effort to Register 40,000 State College Students to Vote in 2006

"2004 proved that if you ask them, they will vote. In 2006, we'll register students here in Indiana and continue the momentum of increasing young voter turnout."

For Immediate Release: September 18, 2006

Contact:

Professor Elizabeth A. Bennion

574-520-4128

South Bend - On Monday, September 18, 2006, students at Indiana University South Bend will be participating in events related to the nationally-recognized Constitution Day. This day is known as "Constitution Day" to honor the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787. The legislation authorizing this Day states, "Each educational institution that receives Federal funds for a fiscal year should hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on September 17 of such year for the students served by the educational institution." Should September 17 fall on a Saturday, Sunday or Holiday, educational institutions should celebrate "Constitution Day" the preceding or following week. IU South Bend embraces the opportunity to talk about the Constitutions and the rights and obligations of citizenship. In fact, the American Democracy Project coordinator, Elizabeth Bennion, and campus intern, Kimberly Muncie, have worked to create an entire Constitution Week on campus.

Constitution Week events planned at IU South Bend include Democracy Plaza-a big tent in the center of campus offering citizens' guides to representative government, live readings from banned books, a free speech board, highlights from the American Democracy Project weekly radio series (WVPE 88.1 FM), literature about upcoming events, and an opportunity to register to vote on site.

The Democracy Plaza will take place from 9:30-2:30 both Monday and Tuesday. Additional events this week include a Point of View Film, Chisholm '72 : Unbought and Unbossed (Monday, 9/18, 7:00 p.m. Wiekamp Hall 1001), a debate and discussion about conscription (Wednesday, 9/20, 4-5:15 p.m., Student Activities Center, Room 223), and a debate and discussion about the smoking ban (Thursday, 9/21, 4-5:15 p.m., Student Activities Center, Room 223).

All events are designed to get students, faculty, staff and community member talking about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. All events are free and open to the public.

Constitution Day will also mark the beginning of Indiana University South Bend's participation in a nationwide voter registration project taking place on over 70 college campuses. Building on the historic young voter turnout in the 2004 elections, IU South Bend today announced a non-partisan project to register 400 young voters in the 2006 election cycle, part of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities' (AASCU) 32-state project to register 40,000 students to vote nationwide.

IU South Bend professor, Elizabeth Bennion, is the principal investigator for the national registration project. School administrators and students at over 70 colleges and universities will use register young voters using a mix of peer-to-peer outreach, encouragement from professors, email, and direct mail. The AASCU and IU South Bend projects are part of a larger nationwide, non-partisan effort to register 350,000 voters in 2006, coordinated by Young Voter Strategies and funded by a $3 million grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts.

"2004 proved that if you ask them, they will vote," said Tanesha Rutz, a student working on the project. "Massive outreach efforts in 2004 resulted in young voter turnout increasing 11 percentage points over 2000 levels-more than four million more young voters in 2004. In 2006, we'll register students here in Indiana and continue the momentum of increasing young voter turnout."

AASCU, which represents 430 state colleges and universities that enroll more than 3.7 million students, will register young voters at more than 70 colleges and universities through its American Democracy Project. An additional 100 campuses are expected to promote the voter registration link available on AASCU's website.

Here at Indiana University South Bend, administrators and student coordinators will team up to register young voters in class, via email, and on campus. Coordinators will also make registration opportunities available at American Democracy Project events, including a Secretary of State candidate forum to be held on Tuesday, September 26, from 6-8 p.m. in the Student Activities Center (room 223).

Professor Bennion and Notre Dame professor David Nickerson will work with AASCU to track and evaluate which techniques register the most state college students and find out which of them is most likely to result in a vote cast on Election Day. The results can be applied by future voter registration projects at all public colleges, which enroll more than six million students.

AASCU's project is part of Young Voter Strategies' nationwide, non-partisan effort to register 350,000 voters in 2006. In 2004, turnout among 18 to 24 year olds jumped 11 percentage points, nearly three times the overall electorate's turnout increase, and more than 20 million 18 to 29 year olds voted. Experts contend that the unprecedented amount of youth-oriented outreach in 2004 is the most significant reason for this jump.

"State colleges and universities could be goldmines for nonprofits and political campaigns reaching out to register young voters. More than six million students attend state schools in the U.S., many on campuses with tens of thousands enrolled," said Heather Smith, director of Young Voter Strategies. "Coming out of this project, we'll have data to help create a comprehensive toolkit for future state college registration projects."

To build on 2004, the Young Voter Strategies project will register 350,000 18-29 year olds nationwide through innovative internet, email, and mobile phone strategies, streamlined peer-to-peer outreach, presentations by high school teachers and college professors, and creative outreach by musicians. Each group will focus on a specific subset of 18-29 year olds, such as single women, community college students, students at public four-year colleges, African-Americans, Evangelical youth, and high school seniors.

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Indiana University South Bend's Mission Statement

Indiana University South Bend is the only public, comprehensive, undergraduate and graduate degree-granting institution of higher education in North Central Indiana. The university is committed to excellence in technology-enhanced teaching, learning and scholarship, supported by a solid core of highly qualified faculty and staff dedicated to helping a diverse body of residential and non-residential students succeed at the university and in life. IU South Bend is distinguished by collaborative learning among students and faculty in a wide range of strong liberal arts and sciences and professional disciplines, including acclaimed programs in the fine and performing arts, and nursing and health professionals; and a commitment to enhancing diversity and a global perspective by providing a rich array of programs to attract and support underrepresented and international students. The university and its graduates have a significant impact on the economic growth and cultural vitality of north central Indiana and surrounding states

AASCU members work to extend higher education to all citizens. AASCU represents more than 400 public colleges and universities in the U.S., which enroll more than three million students or 55 percent of the enrollment at all public four-year institutions. AASCU's American Democracy Project is a multi-campus initiative that seeks to create an intellectual and experiential understanding of civic engagement for undergraduates enrolled at AASCU's member institutions. The goal of the project is to produce graduates who understand and are committed to engaging in meaningful actions as citizens in a democracy. www.aascu.org

Young Voter Strategies, a project of the Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University, with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts, provides the public, parties, candidates, consultants and non-profits with data on the youth vote and tools to effectively mobilize this electorate for upcoming elections. We are committed to make the targeting of young voters a more permanent part of electoral strategies. www.youngvoterstrategies.org. For a full list of the groups involved in 2006 young voter registration efforts, contact Kathleen Barr at Young Voter Strategies. 202-994-9528 or katbarr@gwu.edu.