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For the third time, Miami Dade College (MDC) has been designated a Voter Friendly Campus by NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and the Fair Election Center’s Campus Vote Project, for promoting voter registration and voting on campus.
As part of the college’s ongoing efforts to foster community involvement and civic engagement, MDC’s North and Kendall campuses served as early voting sites for the 2020 election cycles. The Kendall Campus also was an Election Day polling site.
MDC’s Institute for Civic Engagement and Democracy (iCED) developed and implemented a comprehensive nonpartisan voter engagement effort across all eight campuses, which included:
Creating a one-stop election-ready website (mdc.edu/vote) that garnered more than 27,000 views;
Implementing the Motivote civic tech platform that resulted in more than 750 students completing 5,000 voter engagement actions in preparation to cast an informed vote;
Recruiting an estimated 200 students to work as poll workers;
Hosting faculty professional development “Fostering Voter Engagement Across All Disciplines” workshops for more than 200 MDC faculty;
Hosting multiple events for National Voter Registration Day, National Voter Education Week, and National Vote Early Day;
Coordinating free Lyft rides for more than 300 MDC students and their friends to get to the polls, and
Registering more than 6,000 MDC students to vote with the help of Engage Miami.
This latest distinction for MDC is not new. The college has been recognized as a Voter Friendly Campus all three times since the designation’s beginning in 2018.
“This year brought incredible challenges to the many professionals on campuses who are dedicated to encouraging and increasing student civic engagement,” said NASPA president Kevin Kruger. “The completion of the Voter Friendly Campus designation process speaks to the unwavering commitment of campus administrators who ensure students are educated about, have access to, and ultimately are empowered to have their voices heard in the democratic process.”
The Voter Friendly Campus designation program works to bolster efforts that help students overcome barriers to participating in the political process and develop a culture of democratic engagement on campus. The list of designated institutions includes many Minority Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. To learn more, visit www.voterfriendlycampus.org.
The Fair Election Center’s Campus Vote Project works with universities, community colleges, faculty, students and election officials to reduce barriers to student voting and helps campuses institutionalize reforms that empower students with the information needed to register and vote. Educational institutions were evaluated on their ability to write a campus plan about how they would engage student voters in 2020, facilitate voter education and engagement efforts on their campus, and write a final analysis on their efforts.
For more information, visit www.fairelectionscetner.org.
