At a glance
“Ultimately, the goal is to promote civic learning and advance civic action as a life-long practice, producing graduates committed to being informed, active citizens in their communities,” said Jonathan Hilsher, director of the Center of Civic Engagement at Alfred State.
Alfred State is looking to increase students’ democratic participation and civic engagement efforts by partnering with Democracy Works to bring TurboVote technology to campus.
Democracy Works, a non-profit, non-partisan tech startup, created TurboVote, an online platform that helps college students to register to vote, request an absentee ballot, and sign up for text or email reminders with relevant election information such as dates and deadlines for local, state, and national elections.
And it’s all free to students, according to Jonathan Hilsher, director of the Center of Civic Engagement at Alfred State.
“Ultimately, the goal is to promote civic learning and advance civic action as a life-long practice, producing graduates committed to being informed, active citizens in their communities,” Hilsher said.
Students can now register for TurboVote, Hilsher said, and in time for Election Day on Nov. 4.
“The voter registration deadline is Oct. 10 and the deadline to request an absentee ballot is Oct. 28,” he said. “However, other features such as text and email reminders on voting days have no due date.”
To sign up for TurboVote, visit Alfred State’s co-branded site at alfredstate.turbovote.org.
“TurboVote is a great tool to make the voting process less intimidating and enable greater civic engagement among students,” Hilsher said.