At community colleges, new hurdles in turning out the vote

Minnesota Star Tribune, Torey Van Oot:

There’s an information environment where it’s hard to know what’s going on,” said Philip Hensley, a Pennsylvania-based organizer with the national Campus Vote Project. “But when they’re hearing from a fellow student doing a brief presentation on the top of their Zoom class or getting a text from a source they trust, that is, we’ve found, one of the most effective ways to accurately inform people about why they should vote.”

The university itself can also be an influential source for new student voters. While state law requires that colleges provide voter registration information to students, LeadMN has partnered with administrations to ensure the information is front-and-center on popular school websites and platforms.

As outreach barriers to student voters remain, organizers say many students have questions about eligibility and the process for requesting ballots, especially in a pandemic. Those who move frequently might need to update their registration each election. Efforts to approve pop-up early voting sites on campuses have stalled in the state Legislature.

Read the full article here.