5 Tips To Diversify Voter And Civic Engagement Spaces

The first few months of my freshman fall semester were spent at voter registration tables at Tufts University next to my beat up water bottle stamped with a big “MIDTERMS MATTER” sticker. Whether it was helping a fellow student figure out their state’s nuanced absentee ballot rules or hastily putting up posters for a Ben and Jerry’s voter registration event before my next class, I was unbelievably excited at the prospect of my generation voting in record-breaking numbers. 

When I attended my first JumboVote interest meeting, Tufts’ nonpartisan voter engagement group, I quickly found I was the only Black person there. Now, you may be saying, “Tufts is a predominantly white institution, what did you expect?” However, it wasn’t only a lack of Black people—the organization was mostly made of white students. Without people of color (POCs) well represented in student organizations, engaging communities of color—especially around civic engagement—is wrought with challenges. Once in a while, someone would talk about outreach to students of color, which begs the question: How are you going to do outreach to students of color on campus without having any members of that community a part of your planning and strategy team?

This is why I decided to take on the role as an Andrew Goodman Foundation Ambassador. Andrew Goodman, Michael Shwerner, and James Chaney were murdered in 1964 during Freedom Summer registering Black people to vote. Fifty-five years later, I am inspired to continue their legacy by empowering the voiceless in our democracy. 

Coming from the diversity of cultures and backgrounds that make up the DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia), I was first dealing with the adjustment of going to a predominantly white institution as a first-generation college student. However, I knew how important it was for me to advocate for voter education efforts with groups of students on campus that are often ignored.

While youth—and especially youth of color—have historically voted at lower rates, two big changes are happening. First, the youth electorate is getting more diverse. In 2016, 39 percent of voters between the ages of 18-29 were voters of color. Second, youth voter turnout and turnout of voters of color is increasing. In 2018, the voter turnout for college students more than doubled. According to the National, Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement at Institute for Democracy and Higher Education at Tufts University, Hispanic women in college had the greatest voter turnout increase from 2014-2018 with a 23.8 point jump to 37.9 percent. Furthermore, Black women in college had the highest turnout based on race and gender at 43.3 percent. Hispanic men, Black men, and Asian men and women in college lagged behind their Black female peers by more than 10 points. In the case of Asian men in college, their 2018 turnout was 22.6 percent, nearly half of the Black female turnout.

Organizing efforts on campus were not reflecting this change. Exacerbating the problem, most student-led political organizations at predominantly white institutions (PWI) are made up of white students. As a result, they often don’t think or know how to engage students of color. With hopes of tackling this issue, I organized a voter registration and absentee ballot event in collaboration with the Africana Center.

We need to deconstruct the myth that students do not want to vote and raise awareness to the fact that many students face significant barriers to voting, especially when voting absentee. Considering the rich history of voter discrimination based on race, we must be clear that in 2020, we cannot talk about voter mobilization in the United States without race-specific plans. We need to talk about diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability and socio-economic status. 

With all this in mind, here are five tips to diversify your civic and voter engagement spaces in order to advocate for a more inclusive and representative democracy.

1. Explore

Continue educating yourself and ask questions on how to apply an intersectional justice framework to civic engagement work. It’s okay to be uncomfortable and not know everything. 

DeRay Mckesson’s podcast, Pod Save the People with Deray, NPR’s podcast, Code Switch, and Robin DiAngelo’s book, White Fragility are examples of powerful resources. Additionally, partner with social justice organizations in your community already doing this work and let them lead. Build genuine relationships that do not tokenize or operate transactionally. 

2. Build an Inclusive, Representative Coalition 

Due to historical and systemic racism, generations of citizens have been disenfranchised. Outreach to students with generational backgrounds of disenfranchisement requires additional understanding, engagement, and planning. Collaborating and building relationships with many different stakeholders is the only way to achieve this. 

In 2020, many colleges and universities have multicultural or specific identity centers. Many of them also have full-time staff which is an incredible opportunity for outreach.

Recently, when I was at a voting summit, we were having a conversation about outreach to non-white students, and a white student leader asked, “I’ve been trying so hard, but how do I get more students of color involved in this work?” In response, I asked, “Have you ever been to the LatinX, Africana, or Asian-American center, or spoken with faculty or students there about this? Her answer: “No.” 

I think this is the reality for many student leaders or university staff and faculty. However, locating a weakness in our strategies or how our democracy functions should mark a starting point for positive action, not withdrawal. 

3. Know your campus NSLVE Data

NSLVE is the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement housed at the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education at Tufts University. Your campus’ NSLVE report will show your campus’ overall voter registration and voting rates, and it can break down the data by areas of study, race, age, gender, and method of voting. Quantifying your strengths and areas for improvement changes the game. Check here to see if your campus is already participating, and, if not, encourage them to sign up for the free study! 

4. Know your Audience

Host roundtables and “Let’s talk about … ” conversations on current issues that affect many different communities. Don’t make politics seem elitist. Talk about issues that will appeal to a broad swath of students such as student loans, criminal justice reform, the census, climate change, immigration, and reproductive justice. 

5. Stop Trying to be Woke 

Stop throwing around words like “diverse, inclusive, and marginalized,” in your mission/vision statements and not doing the work. 

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge has worked to further their vision for a more inclusive democracy by partnering with organizations such as VotoLatino to recruit more Minority and Hispanic Serving Institutions, or MSIs, to join the Challenge and work to institutionalize civic education. The ALL IN Challenge has also created campus tools, such as an action planning guide, which explicitly advocate for marginalized students to be included in campus student voting leadership and strategies.

Finally, please stop using POC students for photo-ops (and if you’re going to do it anyway, at least get our angles). 

My generation’s voice is loud and has the potential to be even louder through the use of the ballot. All across the nation, young people are making the crucial difference in elections. By 2050, the majority of the United States will be people of color, so we must start mobilizing to elect people who look like us and truly represent our communities.  

More than 600 colleges and universities currently participate in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. Learn more about the Challenge and donate to advance our work here.