September 18, 2012 — As the Florida voter registration deadline looms and both President Obama and Governor Romney visit campus, the University of Miami is alive with election activity. VoteSmart is the newest initiative sponsored by UM’s Get out the Vote (GOTV) efforts.
As part of their 2012 Campus Democracy Project, the Florida Campus Compact has awarded UM with a $1,000 grant to host two civic dialogues on campus. The University will be using this money to hold two VoteSmart talks in the fall semester. The VoteSmart series will highlight the importance of registering to vote, voting in this year’s national and local elections, and various ballot issues – all from a non-partisan point of view.
“UM has become a third-party voter registration organization so we can register students to vote on campus,” said Alessandria San Roman, a sophomore at UM and chair of UM’s GOTV initiative. “Hosting these VoteSmart dialogues will allow students to be informed citizens when they enter the voting booth.”
VoteSmart is supported by UM’s Division of Student Affairs, Student Government, and the William R. Butler Center for Volunteer Service and Leadership Development.
The first talk will be held on Wednesday, September 19 at 6:30 p.m. in the University Center Flamingo Ballrooms, and will feature the League of Women Voters of Miami-Dade County as they discuss the importance of voter registration and voting in elections. This talk will give UM students enough time to register before the Fla. registration deadline of October 9.
The second dialogue will highlight various local and national ballot issues. A date has not yet been set for this event.
The funding from the FLCC grant will allow the GOTV committee to produce printed materials and promotional items containing important election information such as registration deadlines and polling locations.
UM students, faculty, staff, and members of the local community are encouraged to attend each of these events in an effort to become informed and engaged citizens. For more information visit UM’s Get out the Vote website at www.miami.edu/vote.
