Our democracy is stronger when all eligible citizens are active, engaged, and using their voices to vote.   There are some 51 million Americans who could vote but are not registered, and a majority of them are young people, people of color, and single women.  We welcome individual volunteers to help us register them.

How We Can  Help

Voter Engagement Network (VEN) is an all-volunteer group making it easier for eligible voters to register and remember to vote.

Non-partisanship

We work exclusively with trusted non-partisan partners in battleground states or heavily contested districts or cities that will have the greatest impact. This means not supporting any candidate or party, but fiercely advocating for the fundamental right and importance of all Americans to vote. 

Engaging the Youth Vote

A significant focus is on engaging younger voters.   Despite the trope about youth apathy, the fact is that barriers to registration are the #1 obstacle to youth voter turnout. In every presidential election going back to 2004, more than  75% of young people who were registered to vote, actually turned out.  Furthermore, approximately 4 million Americans turn 18 each year, but it’s estimated that fewer than 30% of them are registered to vote. 

Young people care about their communities and the health of the world, but only 6% of them are asked to register in high school. Our work is  to welcome them into our democracy by facilitating registration and instilling a lifelong interest in voting and good citizenship.

How VEN Is Helping Student Engagement on College Campuses

VEN is:

• Partnering with non-partisan partner organizations that promote voting, especially at college campuses;
• Collecting contact information for student activity coordinators, student clubs, college administrators, and other connections at colleges and universities, as well as other institutions.  (We have gathered information for virtually all universities in PA and many of the key districts in NY.);
• Reaching out to contacts on behalf of our partners to remind them of approaching deadlines or the availability of programs that they previously expressed interest in;
• At times sending hand-personalized mailings on behalf of our partner organizations;
• Providing staff and faculty at schools with resources for increasing voter registration and turnout;
• Setting up or helping staff in-person voter registration drives; and
• Following up with phone calls and texts.

Together with our  partners, we review the literature and design and implement experiments to increase our knowledge of effective tactics to increase voter engagement and participation in the electoral process.  We are constantly working to ensure that our project partners and our volunteers’ time and resources are utilized as effectively as possible.