High schools, universities, colleges, and community colleges all play an important role in encouraging young people to vote and participate in civic activities. And now that North Carolina has passed a Youth Preregistration Bill, there's even more that high schools can do in reaching out to 16- and 17-year olds!

This section outlines some of the things that schools and faculty members can do and ways Democracy North Carolina can help.

How We Help

Democracy NC is proud to work with universities, colleges, community colleges and high schools across North Carolina. Our primary focus within schools is developing civic leaders and providing classes or groups with speakers on our core issues, including public campaign financing and voting rights. In addition, we sponsor an 9-week training program each year for young adults called Democracy Summer. This program puts promising college undergraduates with the potential to become civic leaders on the frontline of democracy in various communities across the state, where they work as paid organizers engaging in a variety of grassroots activities. They learn the basics of organizing for social change; the connections between money in politics and issues such as the environment, education, and health care; and hands-on grassroots advocacy tactics.  Learn more about Democracy Summer here, including how your organization can sponsor an intern.

 

Educational Partners

Democracy NC works with faculty members as well as campus civic engagement groups, political science clubs, academic departments, university administrators, career centers, fraternities and sororities. Our role is usually to train local organizers within these partner groups, offer advice about building coalitions and provide materials to support voter registration as well as Get Out the Vote outreach and voting rights education.

If you represent a school-related organization and are interested in working with Democracy NC, contact our Associate Director, Jenn Frye, at 919-286-6000, Ext. 15 or email her at jennfrye@democracy-nc.org.

Get Out the Youth Vote!

During election season, individuals and groups affiliated with a school can:

• Register new voters. Start by downloading our Voter Registration Guide. You can also obtain voter registration forms and instructions from your local Board of Elections or call us at 919-286-6000 for information on sponsoring a registration drive at your school. Remember that all forms must be postmarked or turned into the Board of Elections at least 25 days before the election. Remember, too, that 17-year-olds who will be 18 on the day of the General Election may register and vote in the Primary. See Student Voting for details.
• Distribute flyers on Same Day Registration & Voting to let members of your campus know they can register and vote early, at Early Voting sites, from 19 to 3 days before any Primary or General Election. Click here to download a flyer (3 per page) or contact Democracy NC for copies to distribute at 919-286-6000.
• At election time, ask students to fill out and return commitment cards, which are signed pledges to vote. You can download a sheet with several commitment cards, which you can easily reproduce. These cards also serve as contact forms: Volunteers can call the card signers and remind them to vote.
• Join a local Get-Out-the-Vote coalition and help other groups in your area register and motivate voters to go to the polls at election time. Democracy North Carolina coalitions are typically active at election time in such areas as Charlotte, Durham, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Greenville, Salisbury, Wilson and Winston-Salem.