The Alliance Network is leading young people all across the country to the polls this year, and we’re gearing up for a successful election. New CIRCLE data tells us that many states have exceeded or even come close to matching their 2018 youth voter registration numbers pointing to the potential for high youth participation in the upcoming election. This is a huge win for young voters, but we’re not finished yet.

Alliance organizers are hard at work this season getting out the youth vote in their communities. One way has been through creating digital and print voter guides to help folks vote their values down the ballot. Many Alliance Network organizations have also spent countless hours researching and interviewing candidates to release a slate of endorsements this season.

Do you live in one of these states? Check out some of the Alliance Network’s voter resources to help guide you before heading to the polls next week.

Find Resources in Your State

Don’t live in one of these states? The Alliance can still help you get ready to cast your ballot. Use our #VoteReady hub for all of your election needs! Check on your voter registration status, find your polling place, and make a plan to vote, all in one place. 

A Quick GOTV Recap

In the last two weeks of October, the Alliance staff was working across the country to get out the youth vote with our network orgs! Check out some of the highlights from our trips:

Week One – October 18-24

In week one, we had five staff members across four different states supporting our network orgs. Here’s a little breakdown on the work they did:

Michigan

Alliance Executive Director, Dakota, spent the week knocking on doors with Detroit Action to build power within the community by encouraging folks to pledge to vote on November 8th.

North Carolina

Content Manager, Eliana, canvassed Asian Americans across Raleigh, North Carolina with North Carolina Asian Americans Together In Action (NCAAT). They shared NCAAT In Action’s voter guide and cards with their endorsed candidates.

Ohio

Kenny, Director of Program Capacity, spent the week with Ohio Student Association canvassing college students on several campuses across the state.

Illinois

Operations team members, John and Zahra, worked with Chicago Votes on hosting an in-person donor briefing and tabling at different locations across the city. They also spent some time canvassing and sharing guides on how to vote with the community.

Week Two – October 25-31

During week two, we sent eight staff members out across five different states to support a different slate of network orgs with their GOTV work. Check out what the week two group was up to:

Arizona

The other half of the Operations team, Marisa and Jordan, spent their time working with AZ Poder canvassing and sharing voter guides with the Phoenix, Arizona community.

Oregon

Digital Director, Daniela and Senior Finance Director, Billy, took to the streets of Portland, Oregon with Next Up to canvass community members and do some event support at a local rally.

Montana

Over in Bozeman, Montana, Alliance Chief Impact Officer, Amit, worked with Forward Montana to canvass neighborhoods and hand out voter guides.

Florida

Dakota, spent his second week of GOTV in Miami, Florida with Engage Miami speaking to young voters on college campuses and getting them ready to cast their ballot.

Nevada

Senior Director of Communications, Carmel, and Data Manager, Kate, spent the week in Nevada working with Asian Community Development Council and One APIA Nevada to get out the Asian American vote in Las Vegas. They worked ACDC’s KPOP-themed voter event, distributed meals to the community, and canvassed community members to get them ready to vote.

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From creating voter guides, to endorsing candidates, to compiling voter resources, to registering voters, youth organizers have been putting in the work to make the change they want to see. Now it’s time to do your part. Make sure you, your friends, and family use Alliance resources to make a plan to vote today!

As the leaves change and November 8th approaches, what better way to get communities #VoteReady than by celebrating the Civic Holidays?! And no one does it better than the Alliance Network!

For those who don’t know, the Civic Holidays are nonpartisan days of action that help strengthen and celebrate our democracy.

• National Voter Registration Day – September 20th, 2022
• National Voter Education Week – October 3-7, 2022
• Vote Early Day – October 28th, 2022
• Election Hero Day – November 7th, 2022

They bring together a coalition of organizations and communities with the goal of getting as many folks ready to cast their ballots as possible. The Alliance Network celebrates the Civic Holidays through a variety of programs, but we also like to highlight their impact on college campuses through our Campus Takeover program.

Here’s how the Alliance Network has been celebrating the Civic Holidays. Be sure to check back for updates after each holiday!

National Voter Registration Day

We were so busy on NVRD we couldn’t fit it into one post! As co-founders of the holiday, NVRD is one of our favorite days of the year. Alliance organizers dominate the voter reg game every year, and they showed up and showed out yet again during this year’s 10th anniversary of NVRD. The day was filled with fun and creative events held all across the country. Check out our NVRD blog post for more!

National Voter Education Week

Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT) along with a coalition of state partners held OctVOTERfest on October 6th, to celebrate and educate Wisconsin voters ahead of the midterms.

Vote Early Day

Alliance organizers are celebrating Vote Early Day by hosting various events and actions throughout the network.

New Era Colorado has been hard at work tabling on college campuses to get students out to vote, and for Vote Early Day, they’re celebrating by hosting a statewide phonebank!

MOVE Texas is spending the day engaging students in whiteboard storms on college campuses across the state, and hosting in-person actions with pizza, GOTV literature, and their voter guides.

Over in Nevada, ACDC is hosting Permission to Vote KPOP to the Polls, an event that sends party buses of people to the early voting booth along with free boba and KPOP photo cards.

Florida Student Power Network and Chicago Votes are celebrating spooky season with their Halloween-themed early voting events.

The Washington Bus Education Fund is hosting a get-out-the-vote phonebank for Vote Early Day, encouraging youth voters to turn in their ballots ahead of November 8th. They’re also partnering with local colleges to host a ballot party and tabling events.

On Sunday, October 30th North Carolina Asian Americans Together (NCAAT) and their partners are hosting Every Vote Everywhere All At Once, a celebration of Asian artistry and community power as they gear up for the midterms. The event will feature special performances, a vendor market, games and activities, free food, and a set from author, poet, and comedian Alok Vaid-Menon. 

Get #VoteReady

The most important thing you can do right now is to get vote ready. This means making sure your voter registration is up-to-date.  Then, make sure your family, friends, and neighbors are all vote ready. The power to make lasting change in your community starts with getting registered to vote. Check out the #VoteReady hub on the Alliance website to get started today!

Our campaign, Democracy Done Right is all about creating a voting system that reflects who we are as voters. With young people being the largest, and most diverse voting bloc in our nation’s history, we deserve a democracy that is accessible and reflects all of the progress we’ve made.

Youth organizers in the Alliance Network have been doing this work for years and have paved the way for historic and innovative reforms that allow their communities to cast their ballot in ways that work for them. 

Democracy Wins Across the Network

The Alliance Network is leading the nation with automatic voter registration laws

In 2009, Oregon Bus Project began a campaign to automatically register voters at state agencies like the DMV. In 2015, now known as Next Up, they won–sparking a series of automatic voter registration reforms all across the country. 

Protecting polling places on college campuses and engaging students to register to vote

As the right to vote has come under attack in the country, Forward Montana, MOVE Texas, Next Up, Engage Miami, and New Era Colorado have successfully preserved on-campus access to the ballot.

Engage Miami fought for and won early voting sites at Miami college campuses for the 2018 Midterm Elections. The Washington Bus and New Era Colorado were able to get ballot drop-off boxes on campuses across their respective states. And MOVE Texas won polling locations on Texas college campuses contributing to a dramatic increase in student voter turnout.

Alliance Network orgs have also been engaging students through our Campus Takeover program around the Civic Holidays. Through Campus Takeover, the network has been able to host fun and innovative events and programs to get out the vote on college campuses. By centering our efforts on campuses, we are able to help students realize their identities as voters, remove common barriers from civic engagement, and create a culture of voting and non-partisan civic engagement on campuses that students are likely to carry with them long after they graduate.

Expanding voting access 

To ensure young people have access to engage in our democracy from a young age, New Era Colorado worked to pass a law 17-year-olds who turn 18 by the general election are able to vote in their primaries. In 2021 Forward Montana Foundation sued their state over House Bill 506, a bill that would restrict access to the ballot for voters who turn 18 in the month before Election Day, and won! In August, 2022 a judge declared the bill unconstitutional, finding that it infringes on young Montanans’ right to vote. 

Chicago Votes has been working to expand voting access to people in jail. In 2019 they were able to help pass a senate bill making Cook County Jail the first jail in the country to become a polling place. And thanks to Chicago Votes organizers, Cook County Jail had record turnout of 24.9% for the 2022 primary election (which is higher than Chicago’s at-large turnout of around 20%).

Learn More About Democracy Done Right

Join the campaign by signing the petition today. We’re calling on elected leaders to support us in creating a modern voting system that works for the America we are, not the America we were.

Check out our protect democracy initiatives, read how young people in battleground states are anticipating access to the ballot with our latest poll results, and share the campaign on social media over on the Democracy Done Right webpage.

Share Your Story

Thanks to the work of student debt advocates, many of them in the Alliance for Youth Action network, the Biden Administration delivered on their campaign promise to cancel federal student loan debt. Back in August, President Biden announced that the administration is providing up to $10,000 in federal debt relief and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. Now applications for student debt relief are officially open!

You can complete the application for student debt relief right now! Go ahead, we’ll wait right here for you. 🙂

Share the information on social

Now that you’ve applied for student debt relief, share the information with your friends! Share our posts from Instagram and Twitter to let your friends know they can apply for federal student debt relief right now!

Thanks to youth advocates for student debt relief, 40 million people are now eligible for student debt relief, and 20 million people could have their federal student debt wiped out completely. While this is a huge win, we have a lot more work to do to ensure all people can access higher education.

Keep inviting your networks to join the Dreams Not Debt campaign so we can continue taking action around affordable education and ending the student debt crisis.

The youth vote will be essential to winning the midterms, so the Alliance team is hitting the road to do on-the-ground get-out-the-vote (GOTV) organizing with the Alliance Network! For the last two weeks of October, Alliance staff members are traveling across the country to nine Alliance Network organizations  to help turn out the youth vote in their states.

Follow us on social media to see local peer-to-peer organizing in action!!

Join us this GOTV season!

Join us on our journey by volunteering with an Alliance Network organization! The nine network orgs we’re traveling to are looking for local volunteers to support their GOTV programs. Are you in one of these states? Please join us. Just a few hours of your time can have a huge impact on youth voter turnout.

Not in one of these states? That’s okay! There’s still plenty of ways you can support our work. By making a donation to the Alliance you’re directly supporting the on-the-ground in-the-streets work that is key to a great democracy. Help us organize, build power, and win on the progressive issues our generation cares about most by making a donation today!

Make Sure Your Community is #VoteReady

Join the Alliance in getting out the youth vote by making sure your community is ready to cast their ballots this November. Share the Alliance #VoteReady hub with friends, neighbors, and family so they can check their registration status, register to vote, and find their polling place.

The Alliance team is fired up and ready to turn out the youth vote. We’re in the business of building young people’s political power and we do it by engaging young people in every election, everywhere. We do this work because when more young people vote, we build a better future for us all, and we’re happy to have you join us on our journey to getting out the youth vote for the 2022 midterms.

We hope you’ll join us this GOTV season!

More than 8 million young people have turned 18 since the 2020 election. Imagine a world where every single one of them cast their ballot in the 2022 midterm elections. That’s the world we want to create. That’s why we do this work! And today, the Alliance for Youth Action is rolling out the red carpet to celebrate first-time voters making their Democracy Debut this November with our new campaign.

Are you voting for the first time in this year’s midterm elections? Tell us what is motivating you to make 2022 your democracy debut! We want to hear what issues are driving you to the polls and what your plan to vote is for this year. Share your story so we can celebrate with you! 

Democracy Debut is a digital campaign dedicated to welcoming first-time voters into our democracy. There are millions of newly eligible voters each year, and the Alliance wants every single voter to feel confident about making their democracy debut into their civic engagement journey. Young people are passionate about multiple issues impacting them, their families, and their communities. Whether in the streets, at the courthouse, or the ballot box – millions of young people across the country are making their voices heard for the first time.

While this campaign specifically targets the 8 million newly eligible young voters, anyone who is voting for the first time this November can participate!  

Making your democracy debut is all about how you’re engaging in the political process for the first time. While it’s just one of many ways young people can participate in the political process, voting is a powerful way to make their voices heard and impact issues affecting them and their communities.

Make Sure You’re #VoteReady

The most important thing you can do now, is to vote. Our vote is one of the most powerful tools we have in defending and strengthening our democracy, so make sure you’re harnessing your power. Check your registration status and register to vote, see what’s on your ballot, and make a plan to vote at the Alliance #VoteReady hub today.

We’re Fighting for a Stronger Democracy

The stakes are far too high to take anything – especially our democracy – for granted, and youth organizers in the Alliance Network know that. It is the power of local youth organizing that will fuel the turnout of the new 8 million young people making their democracy debut at the polls this November. According to CIRCLE data, young people are more likely to pay attention to local, Congressional, and Senate elections when contacted by a local community organization. And it is the local youth-led organizations in the Alliance Network that do just that – contact young people through innovative, impactful peer-to-peer organizing. 

Youth organizers in the Alliance Network know that young people are multi-issue voters and have invested in and built with young people year-round. Read more about what the network has done over the years to fight voter suppression and expand access to the ballot box in their states.

Young People are an Electoral Force

Since 2018, young people have been turning out in record numbers and winning real progress. And in 2020, young people did their jobs. Amid a global pandemic and widespread economic uncertainty, half of all young people ages 18 to 29 voted. President Biden took office with Democratic control of the House and Senate because young people turned out to vote across the country to deliver their victories.

Young people can once again play a crucial role in saving our democracy and defeating candidates that threaten our future of free and fair elections. Our August poll of young voters in battleground states found that the overwhelming majority of young people in these key states say they plan to get involved in the 2022 elections with 86% saying they will turn out to vote.

With millions of new voters this cycle, including over 3.8 million BIPOC youth, this is the most diverse electorate the country has ever seen. 

The poll we conducted earlier this year already rang the alarm for political leaders in Washington, DC to focus on the policy priorities that young people care about well ahead of November. Midterm election candidates must have robust plans to address protecting abortion access, democracy reform and voting rights, affordable healthcare, and passing common sense gun laws – the top issues driving young battleground state progressives to vote this November. Young people are ready to cast their ballot this November, so it’s on political campaigns to reach out to young voters on the issues they care about.

Today, across Indigenous reservations, you will find the resistance and resilience of Indigenous people who have fought for their culture, lands, language, and traditions for centuries against white supremacy colonialism.  

That resistance and resilience have enabled me to succeed as a young Black Indigenous leader from the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin & Lac Courte Oreilles Band who finds himself leading the Alliance for Youth Action. The Alliance is a nationwide network of youth organizations that create and inspire a more just and equitable country every single day. I see the resistance and resilience of young people of color within our network as they organize towards access to higher education, abortion access, holding government institutions accountable for failing Black and Brown communities, and much more. 

The resistance and resilience that runs through Indigenous people catalyze the rebellion against modern-day colonialism. The ideals of manifest destiny are deep-rooted in the American psyche through folk tales of the beautiful founding of our country. We all know the story; you know the one. The myth of the Pilgrims landing on Indigenous land and immediately becoming friends with the Indigenous people and nations. 

We must confront the institutionalized teaching of Indigenous people that rewrites history so it can avoid the uncomfortable grip of guilt that plagues White Americans. Many people have never had a meaningful interaction or friendship with an Indigenous person, have an Indigenous coworker or boss, or are aware that the city, county, or state they live in has its namesake from an Indigenous language. The knowledge gap between Indigenous history and modern-day problems is a bridge we must build if we want future generations of Indigenous people to thrive on their traditional homelands.

This is not just about broken treaties; it is about the institutionalized legislative and budget decisions to remove wealth and health from Indigenous communities and promote legalized discrimination. In 1887, the Dawes Act, also known as General Allotment Act, was passed to force Indigenous Communities to “assume a capitalist and proprietary relationship with property.” Tribal nations lost another two-thirds of their land, or about 90 million acres, after already losing over a billion acres of land via genocidal warfare, manipulation, and dubious treaties.

It was just 98 years ago that all Indigenous People were granted citizenship in this country through the Indian Citizen Act of 1923, and we waited another 44 years after that for the passage of the Indian Civil Rights Act to receive many of the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. But it does not stop there; 70 years after being granted citizenship, the passage of the amended American Indian Religious Act gave Indigenous people the right to use all traditional medicines in ceremonies. These are just a few of the laws that accentuate the long injustices and fight for fundamental human rights Indigenous communities have had to endure. 

Today, an epidemic of murdered and missing Indigenous women highlights the continued violence against Indigenous women perpetuated for centuries. Four out of five Indigenous women experience some form of violence in their lifetime. Indigenous women face murder rates more than ten times the national average. In 2016, the National Crime Information Center reported that there were almost 6,000 Indigenous women and girls missing, while the US Department of Justice’s federal missing person database only logged 116 of those cases. Indigenous women have to face some of the highest rates of violence in this country, and law enforcement agencies also ignore it. 

Across reservation and urban cities, Indigenous people face a crisis in health equity. Indigenous people have a life expectancy of five and half years less than all other races in the United States and continue to die at higher rates of preventable illnesses. One of the primary drivers of this is the consistent underfunding of the Indian Health Service agency responsible for providing healthcare to more than 570 tribal nations in the United States. Without action, we will continue to see Indigenous communities have disproportionate preventable death rates. 

The centuries-long systemic racism and attempted eradication of my people from history have a lasting impact on much more than the violence against women or health disparities. More than a quarter of Indigenous people live in poverty, the highest rate in the nation. Indigenous households have 8 cents of wealth for every average White household. For the last 25 years, Indigenous people have had the lowest education achievement rates. This demands attention and action immediately, but we are continuously ignored in mainstream political debates while in a crisis and fighting for survival. As the midterm election approaches, I have yet to hear a plan for Indigenous communities and our health. To constantly be left out of the conversation, or placed with the ‘other’ box on statistics, is erasure and aids this country in eliminating the “Indian Problem.”

Simply put, Indigenous lives have been in a state-manufactured crisis for centuries. We continue to resist colonial white supremacy by speaking our languages, practicing our traditions, and refusing assimilation as a way of survival. Our resilience will ensure the next seven generations continue the legacy of their ancestors and chart their path of Indigenous greatness. 

Every Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a call to action for those who consider themselves allies or co-conspirators to Indigenous people. We need those not a part of our communities to uplift our community and the crisis we live in daily. If you are privileged enough to have Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a day off, take some time to learn more about Indigenous issues and take action.

How to Support Indigenous People

Be attentive to the language you use

• “Low man on the totem pole/climbing the totem pole” 
  • Totem poles are very sacred items to Indigenous people. Figures carved on totem poles represent familial legends, clan lineages or notable events. In some Indigenous communities, being low on the totem pole is actually a higher honor than being on the top.
• “We should get together and have a powwow about that”
  • Powwows are social gatherings for ceremonial and celebratory purposes and are conducted under strict protocol. Using this phrase to refer to a quick business meeting denigrates the long, cultural significance of the powwow. 
• “Off the reservation”
  • Implies you are not thinking or functioning properly, that you are crazy or stupid. This dates back to when the US Military would forcibly prevent Indigenous people living reservations, they must be stupid to challenge the military.

Join Campaigns

Take action with the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women

Donate

• Advance Native Political Leadership
• Center for Native American Youth
• Illuminative
• Native Organizers Alliance  
• Native Americans in Philanthropy

As the temperatures are dropping and leaves are changing, we’re looking back on the incredible work Alliance youth organizers did these past few months to develop strong leaders in their communities and organize in the field for big primary wins, while still taking time to rest up before election season.

This year, the Alliance Network isn’t only focused on voter turnout. We’re also working on fostering the civic education of young people in our communities to ensure they grow into strong leaders that will carry on this work beyond us.

Here’s how network orgs used the summer season to build the next generation of youth organizers.

Developing Strong Leaders

This year the Alliance Network has fostered the development and civic education of over 90 young people through internships, fellowships, and other programs!

Staff and volunteers at New Era Colorado joined forces to learn more about young people’s priorities — what they’re calling the Youth Agenda — for the relaunch of their leadership development program. The launch of this restructured program renewed focus on building a political home for Colorado’s young people by providing political education, hands-on organizing experience, and supporting them in becoming change-makers in their communities.

This summer Forward Montana had a cohort of fellows across Billings, Missoula, and Bozeman. Fellows hosted voter registration and community events, and participated in a weekly fellowship class that focused on organizing and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) topics. 

Minnesota Youth Collective’s summer fellowship recruited eight fellows who focused on community organizing, civic engagement, and issue advocacy. Fellows canvassed community events to register and pledge voters, organized their own educational events, and are currently working on a zine highlighting issues important to young people in the Twin Cities area.

Loud Light runs a large-scale leadership development program every year, focusing on educating young people about the legislative process in Kansas and community organizing. So far this year they’ve trained 24 fellows. Throughout the program fellows learned about testifying in the legislature, educating the community about different bills and processes, and testifying in court as Loud Light continues to fight back against multiple voter suppression bills.

We’re so proud of how the Alliance Network spent fostering and developing the skills of young people to take action by learning how to effectively fight for progressive policies that will help our people thrive.

This is how we build a movement that is truly of young people, by young people, for all people.

Happy Civic Holiday season, Alliance Fam! 🥳

National Voter Registration Day is one of the most important (and one of our favorite) days of the year, and this year we are celebrating TEN years of NVRD!! 

Did you know that the Alliance co-founded the holiday? Ten years ago we realized millions of people were not casting a ballot because they missed a voter registration deadline. So, with a coalition of partners, we formed the first-ever National Voter Registration Day! Youth organizers in the Alliance Network have always dominated the voter registration game. And they showed up and showed out yet again during this year’s 10th anniversary of National Voter Registration Day (NVRD). Check out what some of the Alliance Network youth organizers were up to last week. 👇🏽

NVRD in the Alliance Network

Loud Light stayed busy on NVRD with League of Women Voters Kansas at their court of appeals hearing on their voter suppression lawsuit!

Forward Montana celebrated by tabling in the Billings, Missoula, Bozeman, and Kalispell communities with some awesome prize giveaways.

Detroit Action hosted a National Voter Registration Day BBQ for their community, and shared their DA Be A Voter hub to make voting that much easier for Detroit residents.

One APIA Nevada brought back their NVRD petting zoo while also having a showing of the hit film Everything Everywhere All At Once and music from local DJ, Miss Joy.

The Washington Bus Education staff hosted four events across the state to get young people pre-registered and registered to vote for this upcoming election.

Campus Takeover

Campus Takeover is a nationwide effort to mobilize students around elections and to create a culture of civic engagement on college campuses by facilitating celebratory events during the Civic Holidays. This year, we saw some incredibly creative, innovative, and engaging National Voter Registration Day events hosted by our Campus Takeover partners where hundreds were registered to vote.

Alliance Network orgs like MOVE Texas and Engage Miami joined in on the fun by celebrating NVRD all week long with partners Pizza to the Polls and Levi Strauss Co. on college campuses across their communities to get young people vote ready for the midterms.

Here are some highlights from Campus Takeover 👇🏽

ICYMI: Highlights from Youth For The Win–A Livestream Event

Young people will decide the midterm elections. You know it, I know it, so this year let’s make sure the world knows it. 

The Alliance is the premier youth organizing and power-building network in the country, with 20 organizations turning out the youth vote across 18 states ensuring the issues young people care about are heard loud and clear. And now, we invite you to meet some of the youth leaders in the Alliance Network from coast to coast who are building youth power in their communities and getting young people vote ready for the midterm elections.

Meet the Speakers

Take Action With Us

Check out other ways to take action with the Alliance on our Take Action page. Join our campaigns, get #VoteReady, and learn how you can help protect democracy ahead of the midterm elections. We also recently wrapped up our Democracy Done Right Week of Action highlighting how the Alliance Network is strengthening our democracy.

Watch the highlights on social media: