"We encourage the presence of young people in the electoral process. Their involvement helps to create long-term commitment to civic engagement. I can think of no better way than this program to accomplish that.” -Denver Clerk and Recorder Stephanie O’Malley  

 

 
 

Colorado Election Fellows Program
 

By the year 2015, young voters will make up one-third of the US electorate. In Colorado’s last presidential election, only half of eligible voters between 18 and 25 voted.  While turnout is still very low, this is a huge increase from previous elections.  The Colorado Elections Fellows program will help engage more young people in the voting process through service in elections.

The Colorado Elections Fellows program is available to 10 students in 2009. Each fellow will serve as a poll worker on Election Day. Fellows will gain a greater understanding of the importance and significance of the voting process through an engaging curriculum coupled with real-life internship experience as poll workers.  Fellows will also gain understanding of why poll workers are necessary to ensure that all eligible voters are able to participate.

Double Brace: “Not only did I feel at the end of each meeting like I had accomplished something, but I knew that I was helping my community by being involved… it made me happy to see their faces and how such a small thing could really encourage people to come back and vote in next year’s election.”
-2009 Election Fellow Amira Aletebi

2009 Election Fellows Pilot Successful, expansion planned
In keeping with our members’ commitment to electoral engagement, CCC is proud to have won the Election Assistance Commission’s College Poll Worker Grant for the 2009 and 2010 election seasons. The Election Fellows program provides a paid 45 hour, one credit service learning course to selected students. Participation in this unique opportunity will be provided to any CCC member for the 2010 year, with travel and online components for outlying sites.

 The outstanding curriculum developed by Colorado Common Cause and supporting faculty members is a comprehensive look at our elections process.  As a part of the course, ten 2009 Fellows from DU, Metro and UCD took part in trainings that introduced them to the County Clerk and Recorder, Secretary of State, Elections Director and other community leaders that work supporting fair elections. The Fellows experience culminates in recruiting other students to join as poll workers in experiencing elections work for themselves. We hope to not only impact the students with the experience of elections work but effect our elections with the energy of these great young people.                                                  2009 Fellows with Clerk and Recorder, Stephanie Y. O’Malley.

 To get involved, please contact Lauren Alweis at 303-458-4193 or compact@regis.edu.

Regis University's Press Release:
 


COLORADO CAMPUS COMPACT AT REGIS UNIVERSITY RECEIVES 74K GRANT TO RECRUIT COLLEGE STUDENTS TO SERVE AS POLL WORKERS DURING 2009 & 2010 ELECTIONS
by D. Veasey,

(DENVER) – Colorado Campus Compact (CCC) at Regis University is one of 13 organizations around the nation --11 colleges and universities and two nonprofits -- to receive a grant to recruit college students to serve as poll workers during the 2009 and 2010 elections.

CCC received $74,611 from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). CCC will use the funds to establish the Colorado Elections Fellows Program.

“We continue to witness a rise in college student interest and participation in elections,” said Theresa M. Cusimano, executive director of CCC. “With these strategic investments from the Election Assistance Commission, Colorado Campus Compact will establish 35 Election Fellowships, selected on a competitive basis.”

According to Cusimano, CCC at Regis University and Just Vote Colorado, a program from Colorado Common Cause, will implement a series of strategies designed to engage college students as poll workers and build a long-term commitment to civic engagement.

Program Coordinator, Elena Nuñez, shares the first year strategy, noting, “The first year of the two-year Colorado Elections Fellows Program will focus on college students at The Metropolitan State College of Denver, the University of Colorado at Denver and the University of Denver. The second year will expand efforts to northern and southern Colorado, the eastern plains and the western slope of Colorado. The Denver Elections Division will be a key partner in this ongoing training program.”

Denver Clerk and Recorder Stephanie O’Malley, in charge of elections for the City of Denver, commented, “I am thrilled that this innovative program has been chosen for an EAC grant. For the Denver Elections Division to have partnered with area institutions of higher education in the development of this grant proposal shows our commitment and the commitment of Colorado higher education to significantly raise the bar in the recruiting and training of poll workers. We encourage the presence of young people in the electoral process. Their involvement helps to create long-term commitment to civic engagement. I can think of no better way than this program to accomplish that.”

“Beyond the 35 fellowships, the program has a goal of recruiting an additional 280 students college students to become poll workers,” said CCC’s Lauren Alweis.

Alweis added that a service learning elections curriculum will also be developed by Susan Sterett from the University of Denver that can be implemented in various campus courses as a means to recruit and train poll workers. Masters level students from the University of Colorado at Denver’s Political Science program will be engaged in evaluation.

According to EAC, the purpose of the College Program is to recruit the next generation of poll workers. The program also seeks to ease poll worker shortages such as those seen in the 2004 election, where 5.8 percent of polling places and 4 percent of precincts nationwide reported having too few poll workers, according to the 2004 EAC Election Day Survey.

The College Program grants are authorized by the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

CCC was founded in 1992 as a coalition of Colorado college and university presidents to promote community service, develop students’ citizenship skills and values, and to encourage civic partnerships between campus and community. The CCC is hosted at Regis University.

 

   
 

All content copyright Colorado Campus Compact 2006