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BadgersVote is a campus-wide initiative that strives to provide University of Wisconsin–Madison students with everything they need to know in order to participate in their elections. The BadgersVote Coalition is comprised of many individuals, units and departments across campus and the city of Madison.
BadgersVote hosts voter education campaigns, information events and other student-oriented opportunities to drive student civic and voter engagement.
This includes providing Badgers with a continuously updated comprehensive voting resource at vote.wisc.edu.
We need to continuously be working to empower our campus and partner with our greater Madison community, to make their voice heard and prepare to get out the vote for the next election. Check out our Democracy Never Sleeps resource focused on how to make your voice heard, engaging your peers, and participate in student advocacy.
The BadgersVote Student Coalition is looking for students who are interested in supporting democratic engagement across campus. The coalition is made up of students and student organization representatives from across campus. Join our student volunteers program with BadgersVote here.
Join us for our bi-weekly meetings which will commence in the Fall 2021 as we reconvene for next semester. Our fall meeting times will be added to the Morgridge Center events page as they are scheduled.
For more information on how to get involved, contact Voter Engagement and Civic Learning Coordinator Zachery Holder: zdholder@wisc.edu
February 2022 is the next Wisconsin Election. A detailed guide to Wisconsin student voter information can be found at vote.wisc.edu.
Are you more interested in voting in your home state? Visit Project Vote Smart to find dates of elections in other states.
You can create your personalized plan to register and vote through the BadgersVote interactive voting tool at go.wisc.edu/StepsToVoteUW.
The Morgridge Center collaborates with several campus, local and national initiatives to support other student voting efforts. See links below for more information on these initiatives.
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ALL IN Democracy Challenge and Voter Friendly Campus Report
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has joined more than 575 other colleges and universities around the country by committing to the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge.
The Challenge recognizes postsecondary campuses committed to improving democratic engagement, increasing student voter participation rates, and graduating students with a lifelong commitment to being informed and active citizens.
By recognizing colleges and universities for their commitment to increasing student voting rates, this national awards program encourages institutions to help students form the habits of active and informed citizenship. Hundreds of colleges and universities have joined the Challenge and have committed to making democratic participation a core value on their campuses. Together, they are cultivating generations of engaged citizens who are essential to a healthy democracy.
Additionally, the University of Wisconsin–Madison is one of over two hundred campuses in thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia designated as a “Voter Friendly Campus.” The initiative, led by national nonpartisan organizations Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project (CVP) and Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA), held participating institutions accountable for planning and implementing practices that encourage their students to register and vote in 2020 elections and in the coming years. The designation is valid through December 2022.
BadgersVote Student Team at UW–Madison
The BadgersVote team is a group of dedicated and passionate student interns working to mobilize and educate students about the importance of voting at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Beginning in the spring of 2016, UW–Madison began its intern program by hosting three Vote Everywhere Ambassadors funded by the Andrew Goodman Foundation. Vote Everywhere is a national, non-partisan, civic engagement movement of student leaders and university partners honoring Andrew Goodman, a former UW student, voting rights activist and freedom rider who was killed along with civil rights workers James Earl Chaney and Michael “Mickey” Schwerner by Klansmen in 1964. The program provides extensive training, resources, as well as a peer network to support its Ambassadors while they work to register voters, bring down voting barriers, and tackle important social justice issues.
Since then, BadgersVote has added interns from the Campus Vote Project, the League of Women Voters – Wisconsin, and Campus Elections Engagement Project to work with faculty and staff on addressing barriers to student voting on campus. As a subset of the Badgers Vote Coalition, these student interns lead efforts to excite students about voting on campus and lead in critical efforts to increase access to voter ID, connect the student vote to issues occurring within society and deepen students’ capacity to invest in the upholding of democracy.
Big 10 Voting Challenge
UW–Madison joined the other Big Ten institutions in a new competition to promote civic engagement in 2018: the Big Ten Voting Challenge. The Big Ten Voting Challenge helps to mobilize registration and turnout efforts at all 14 Big Ten universities. UW–Madison again joined the Big Ten Voting Challenge for the November 2020 presidential election. The 2020 results will be out in the summer of 2021.
READ LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENTS
What’s At Stake:
One of the most important values we teach at our universities is the importance of civic engagement. Voting in elections gives students a voice in the democratic process and in the decisions that affect local, state, and national issues. The Big Ten Voting Challenge is a nonpartisan initiative to encourage students to exercise their right to vote, which is among the most fundamental opportunities to be an active and engaged citizen.
UW-MADISON COMMITS TO EMPOWERING STUDENTS TO VOTE in 2020
UW–Madison participated in the Big 10 Voting Challenge for the 2020 presidential election. Many students had cast their votes early amid the pandemic, and the presidential election is expected to have high turnout. Dane County smashed records for voter turnout on the historic day.
UW HAS SECOND HIGHEST VOTER TURNOUT IN BIG TEN
University of Wisconsin–Madison students achieved the second-highest voter turnout among the 14 member institutions of the Big Ten Conference in the 2018 midterm elections, according to the newly announced results of the Big Ten Voting Challenge.
STUDENT TURNOUT STRONG IN 2018
A national survey found student turnout at UW–Madison increased by nearly 18 percentage points in the 2018 midterm elections compared to 2014.
National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement
The National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) offers colleges and universities an opportunity to learn their student registration and voting rates. UW–Madison has joined more than 1,000 campuses across all 50 states in participating in NSLVE. This study is the first and only to objectively examine student and institution-level data on student voting and share these data with participating campuses.
2016 and 2018 University of Wisconsin – Madison NSLVE Voting Data at a Glance
2014 and 2018 University of Wisconsin – Madison NSLVE Report
2012 and 2016 University of Wisconsin – Madison NSLVE Report
Stay Connected with Civic Engagement
Pod-Cast Your Vote
Created by BadgersVote in collaboration with the Andrew Goodman Foundation, Pod-Cast Your Vote is dedicated to increasing voter engagement by reminding all students of the power they hold to change the world. New episodes produced every other Thursday!
Democracy Never Sleeps
With the elections behind Wisconsin for the remainder of 2021, it is important to remember that voting is just one step in being a civically engaged citizen. Now is the time to take action, hold elected officials accountable, and get involved to ensure progress is made.
An Election like no other
After careful preparation by the Madison City Clerk’s office and UW–Madison officials, Election Day went ahead on Nov. 3. Dane County reached record voter turnout rates, with 84.7% of the voting age population casting ballots. Check out some photos and remember, #BadgersVote.
UW Joins Voter Friendly Campus Initiative
Led by national nonpartisan organizations Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project (CVP) and Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA), the University of Wisconsin–Madison joined the Voter Friendly Campus initiative to be held accountable for encouraging their students to register and vote in 2020 elections and in the coming years.
Getting out the vote
Every Thursday at 6 p.m. for the past few months, UW students banded together to tackle a nationwide challenge: getting out the youth vote. Read more about the BadgersVote Student Coalition's extraordinary efforts to get out the student vote in amid the pandemic in 2020.
WORKING THE POLLS: Q&A WITH TAMIA FOWLKES
Tamia Fowlkes, the Big Ten Voting Challenge intern for the Morgridge Center for Public Service, offers her insight into the value of youth working the polls this fall during a pandemic.