The SUNY system is encouraging civic engagement by working to get students registered to vote and participate in the November elections.
Young voters have historically had some of the lowest voter registration and participation rates compared to other age groups.
That's something SUNY Chancellor John King wants to fix. Speaking recently at SUNY Cortland about the importance of student voting, he stressed it's not just about letting students know how to participate, but making sure they understand why they should.
“It’s essential to the mission of higher education, making sure we prepare well-rounded, civically engaged citizens who will contribute to our democracy and strengthen our nation for generations to follow,” King said.
Thirty-nine SUNY campuses are participating in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge this year. The national, nonpartisan program provides free resources to campuses to drive student voter engagement.
King said it's about getting students to understand why their vote matters, especially on races in their local community.
“And helping them understand that elections matter for those day-to-day issues," King said. "Now it may not be that the presidential election is the thing that can affect whether or not there’s a traffic light on a particular street, but local elections matter and helping them understand the local town races, the local county races, the state legislative races.”
King also announced 23 of those campuses will also receive “mini grants” of up to $3,000.
“SUNY campuses are using these funds to fund immediate activities, such as hiring student interns to support non-partisan civic action, supplies and materials for voter registration drives, tabling and get out to vote events, [and] stamps and materials for absentee ballot sendoffs,” King said.
Sixteen campuses, including Binghamton University and SUNY Cortland, will have a polling location on campus for the November 5 election.
The voter registration deadline is October 26.