FMF National Campus Organizers are currently traveling across the country to discuss the issues at stake in the upcoming election. We’ve prepared talking points about reproductive rights, marriage equality, the environment and pay equity. What we didn’t expect was the biggest issue of all: no one knows when Election Day is!
Clearly there is work to be done. In last month’s eZine, I discussed the many ways to Get Out HER Vote on your campus by utilizing the Feminist Majority Foundation’s GOHV toolkit. With voter registration deadlines beginning this week in many states, the time to register to vote is now! After that critical paperwork is complete, the real work begins. With just four weeks until election day (which is November 2, 2010 by the way) now is the time to engage your campus around the issues we can impact with our votes this Fall!
Despite being a little uncertain on the exact date (again, that’s TUESDAY, November 2) the issues that student activists care about are endless. We’ve heard from students who are frustrated by the lack of reproductive health care services on campus, pay day lending in their neighborhoods and crisis pregnancy centers that are located across the street from their campus. With your vote this November, ALL of these issues can be addressed.
By utilizing our GOHV toolkit, host a panel discussion to educate your campus on the issues that matter to you. Table in high traffic areas on campus to inform your peers about their rights when they go to the polls. Flyer your campus with posters of the nearest polling location and record public service announcements on your campus radio about the importance of youth participation in civic engagement. At the University of Tennessee there is a polling location on campus and at Millsaps College students can vote directly across the street. Organize a march to the polls on Election Day (that would be November 2, 2010) and let your voice be heard!
Contact your National Campus Organizer for more ideas on how to Get Out HER Vote on your campus today. We can send you brochures, buttons and stickers to help you spread the word that on this Election Day, November 2, 2010, we each must VOTE AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT. Why? Because it does. Don’t trust me? Listen to them and VOTE.