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ASB 2011-2012 - Raise Your Voice: Mobilizing Voters in an Election Year

Basic Information
Application Process: 
ASB 2011-2012
Trip Name: 
Raise Your Voice: Mobilizing Voters in an Election Year
Trip Location: 
Washington D.C.
Air Travel Trip: 
This trip will travel by air.
Number of Participants: 
12
Trip Description: 

Hey, you! Did you vote last November? The honest answer is probably no. True, there are some valid reasons why you might not have vote: maybe you weren’t 18 yet, or maybe you’re not an American citizen, or maybe you were in jail at the time. But it’s also possible that you didn’t vote because you didn’t register in time, or thought that the registration form was too complicated, or you didn’t know whether to vote at Stanford or in your home district.

College students like yourself are among the demographic groups least likely to vote. So are minorities and low-income Americans. As a result, these groups’ needs and opinions are underrepresented in government. In the first half of the course, we will examine the demographics and historical trends behind low voter turnout. Then we will explore the different strategies that candidates and organizations use to engage potential voters and attempt to discover what we, as students, can do to encourage greater participation in the political process.

We will take advantage of the fact that 2012 is an election year and help with voter registration and mobilization during the year’s Republican primaries. We will begin our week in an East Coast swing state, where we will be able to meet with both Republican and Democratic groups. Later in the week, we will move to Washington, DC, where we will meet various interest groups, candidates’ campaign organizations, and advocacy groups.

Trip Leaders
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Anna Schickele

I am a junior from Davis, California majoring in Public Policy. My interest in voter mobilization arose from an on-campus research job that required me to read transcripts of presidential debates from the past 40 years—I began thinking about how candidates attempt (and either succeed or fail) to connect with voters. I spent two months this summer in Peru (where voting is compulsory) and I am currently studying in Spain (where the youth are too apathetic to vote). After several months of pretending to understand the internal politics of foreign countries, I´m looking forward to the comforts of home: Democrats, Republicans, and the peculiar habits of the American voter.

Deepa Kannappan

I am also a junior from the great Central Valley city of Bakersfield, California! I am a Human Biology major...so why am I leading a trip on voter mobilization, you ask? Well, I have run (successfully) for the ASSU Senate, interned with my local Congressman, volunteered at a girls home in India and worked with the State Department because I am interested in issues of empowerment, of working to give all people equal rights and protection. I study medical justice, but in our country, all forms of justice originate from the demands of the people. Rights begin with the ability to vote. So who’s voting and how do we get more people to “do it”? We (Anna, I and YOU) are going to find out. We will also eat lots of yummy food, explore Washington D.C. and change the world! (yes, in one week...)