This midterm election showed once again how important voter turnout is – especially when it comes to young people. This election, an estimated 27% of eligible voters ages 18-29 turned out to vote – that is a 30 year high for midterm elections! Young people made their voices heard in this election – and it showed up and down the ballot.
Here is a quick roundup of Defend Our Future’s favorite GOTV efforts from this election season.
By the numbers
Throughout the election season Defend had a Voter Portal up and running. This portal was a resource for our network on everything from voter registration to where someone’s local polling place was. In total, we had 1,400 people pass through the site to gain valuable information!
Graphics
DOF partnered with NetaCollab to create some eye-catching (and very re-postable) voting graphics. Both images received high engagement levels with our online network.
Events
While all of our campuses did a great job in spreading the word on how to vote – Ohio State University and George Washington University went above and beyond in their GOTV efforts. GW got over 300 students registered to vote on their campus! And OSU hosted a Make Your Voting Plan event the evening before the election. This event helped over 25 community members plan their election days!
Social Media
From voter registration to poll worker signups to turning out the young vote – our socials were covered in GOTV content these past few months. We want to highlight a few recent posts in case you missed them.
Hands down our most entertaining post was Katie Roback & Mikaela Foehr’s IG Reel/TikTok. If you want a laugh and maybe some inspiration for the next election give it a watch! Engagement: 2.5k views
For a more informative tone, University of Central Florida Campus Ambassador Nicole Boisson hosted an Instagram Live on the importance of voting – with special guest Emma Bennighoff! Engagement: 103 views, 327 accounts reached
CSU also got students thinking about voting by asking them to answer the question “Why it is important for young people to go to the polls?”. Check out their TikTok showcasing some favorite answers! Engagement: 269 likes
Finally we could not resist a compilation of our team members showing off their “I Voted” stickers or their voting plans. Engagement: 385 accounts reached
In short
Election days are always “win some lose some,” but what is never a loss is getting people to the polls. A functioning democracy relies on the participation of voters from every walk of life, and Defend is proud to have been a part of turning out the youth vote this cycle. We are already getting psyched for 2024!
P.S. Check out our latest post for a visual interpretation of this email!
