Get Out the Vote Election 2024

The main responsibilities of these students are to table around campus, consult with Student Government and work with the Student Events Team. They have applied for democracy challenges including the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, which allows the university to compete with other colleges to see who can get the most students to register to vote. Riesenberg shared that although it would be nice to win any of these challenges, a perk to joining them is that they receive feedback about the initiatives they are already doing, along with other ideas to improve.

On Tuesday, Sept. 17, these students partnered with the Women’s Center for the Mavericks Lead the Vote voter registration drive to encourage people to register to vote both on campus and in the community. The Vote Coordinators also partnered with the Student Events Team to host a viewing of the vice presidential debate on Oct. 1.  

This year the University has received clearance to provide data to the county about elections for all students living on campus and within 10 miles of Mankato, which allows for an easier voting process for students this year. Riesenberg shared that students living on campus will “have their names already on the county election list and they can show up to the polling station with their MavCARD or another form of identification with a photo… things should be a lot easier this year, which I am excited about.”  

Leading up to the presidential election, they are planning to table weekly in various locations around campus to push the information and encourage students to register to vote. Various informational websites will be shared with students closer to the election date, which will make it easy for students to find out where their voting location will be, especially if they live off-campus. Additionally, signage has been placed on campus to remind students of the Voter Registration Deadline on Oct. 15; after that date,  the focus will shift to how to vote in-person. 

“The state has been very invested in voter education,” Riesenberg says. “There have been more mandates that came out in 2023 within the state… Minnesota has been more active as a state, and we want to make sure students are seeing these things in front of them and they are being educated on them so they can make decisions.” Riesenberg adds that getting Student Voter Coordinators into classrooms, learning communities and Recognized Student Organization meetings are among a few things he wants to push for if future donations come in.