The Vote DePaul crowdfunding project seeks financial support to help DePaul students register to vote. We are a non-partisan group of students, faculty, and staff focused on increasing DePaul students’ participation in the American democratic process. DePaul University is a nationally designated Voter Friendly Campus. We’re committed to providing the support students need to exercise their most fundamental right as citizens.
As part of this project, we have hired and trained DePaul students to serve as Voter Registration Geniuses (VRGs), who work one-on-one with students to help them register, request absentee ballots, and prepare to vote successfully in all upcoming elections (local, midterms, national). In 2020 our VRGs virtually assisted nearly 300 students in registering and casting ballots. Research demonstrates that college students are much more likely to register AND vote if they have individualized peer mentorship and encouragement. Registration and absentee ballot request processes can be complicated, and registration deadlines hard to keep track of across the country. Our VRGs are meant to fill knowledge voids and give students confidence in their ability to participate in the democratic process. We hope to have VRGs stationed on campus during the academic year to register students on site, help them request absentee ballots where appropriate, and answer all questions they might have about civic engagement.
To do this, we need your help! We need financial support from this campaign to cover the costs of setting up these registration tables, including the technology needed (i.e. computers, printers) and other supplies (i.e. stamps, envelopes, etc.) to successfully register students to vote. For this project to succeed, we need the collective help of our DePaul community to ensure that our students can become participants in the voting process and make their voices heard through those they elect to represent them.
We will need extension cords to set up our voter registration tables. This gift will cover the cost of one cord!
We will need to print many materials for our newly registered voters, including mail-in ballots for out-of-state students. We'll need lots of ink!
In order to hook up our tablets/laptops to the printers, docking stations will be needed. This gift will cover the cost of one dock.
To make this project work, we will need printers! A gift at this level will allow us to purchase one.
This is an essential piece of equipment: the tablet will give us access to all the information and materials needed to register a new voter and help them request a mail-in ballot if needed.