NJPIRG Students hosts voter education webinar as part of their “get out the vote” drive

Students came to educate their peers on how to complete their ballot and deliver it properly to have their vote count this election cycle.

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ: With election day rapidly approaching, NJPIRG Students has been hosting civic engagement events to prepare students all across New Jersey to cast their ballots this election cycle.

Due to COVID-19, there are now more ways than ever for voters to deliver their ballot in this year’s election. New Jerseyans can deliver their ballot by mail, to a ballot dropbox, at their county clerk’s office, or on election day at their polling location. This has made it easier for people to cast their ballot safely and avoid crowded polling places, but also has made it more important to educate voters on the process.

Tuesday’s webinar event, held exactly 1 week before Election day, was hosted by NJPIRG Students’ media coordinator Victoria Gasper. Gasper reviewed the options that voters have to deliver their ballot and how to fill out a mail-in ballot properly. The webinar also covered which ballot mistakes can result in your ballot not being counted, and how to avoid those mistakes.

“As a young person, I’ve seen my friends discouraged in thinking their voices don’t matter,” said Victoria Gasper, a senior at Rutgers New Brunswick. “However, seeing as we’re the most diverse generation of voters so far, it’s up to us to speak up and use our voices to facilitate real change – and that starts with voting!”

Young people make up the largest percentage of eligible voters in 2020, and they have a whole range of issues and values that are important and unique to them. Voting in elections at a young age is a catalyst for making voting a habitual action for future elections and a catalyst for activism between elections..

NJPIRG Students has already reached over 3,000 students in class announcements and made over 2,000 peer-to-peer contacts through virtual phonebanks since September 22nd, National Voter Registration Day. The nonpartisan youth voter mobilization campaign, the New Voters Project, helps young people, often first time voters, have all the tools they need to vote. Registration is important, but making sure people turn out to vote is what really matters. From now until election day, NJPIRG Students will host a wide variety of voter education and engagement events to increase youth voter participation in NJ this year

Research shows that peer-to-peer conversations over the phone help increase the likelihood that a voter casts their ballot by 5%. Helping a voter make a vote plan increases the likelihood that voters turn out by 4%. But by far the most effective way to increase voter turnout is through repeated contact, which is why volunteer coordinators with NJPIRG Students are prioritizing phonebanks and textbanks in the final 10 days before Tuesday Nov 3rd.

“Before attending the webinar, I was really worried about missing something crucial in the process of filling out my ballot. I now know all the steps I need to take to make sure my ballot is properly filled out and counted,” said Ritika Jain, a senior at Rutgers New Brunswick.

To learn more about NJPIRG and their New Voters Project campaign, follow us on social media at @NJPIRGStudents and @NJPIRGStudents or check out www.njpirgstudents.org.