University of Minnesota leading the Big Ten in voter registration by students
Back in the day — say, 2012 — voter registration drives at the University of Minnesota consisted mainly of some dedicated students sitting at tables or making stops at dorms around campus.
But this year, a change of strategy to an online registration system advertised on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and online student information hubs has prompted a surge in interest from students, who have registered at higher rates than at any other school in the Big Ten Conference.
All 14 universities in the conference are participating this year in the Vote B1G campaign, which uses a nonprofit group's online voter registration software to make signing up students an easier task. By Oct. 19, more than 30,000 students had signed up, including about 9,600 who attend the University of Minnesota. That number dwarfs the count at all of the other schools. The University of Maryland, the second-highest-ranking institution, had about half of Minnesota's total.
Will Dammann, the government and legislative affairs director for Minnesota's undergraduate student organization, said the numbers are particularly striking because many young voters have been turned off by this year's election. He said promoters of the voter registration effort appealed to students to think about politics closer to home, even if they were dissatisfied with the candidates at the top of the ticket.
Read more: http://www.startribune.com/u-leading-the-big-ten-in-voter-registration-by-students/399161611/