There is a need for student voters to organize and agitate for their own bill of rights as a result of historical and recent attempts by antagonistic actors to stymie the student vote. Restrictive voter ID laws, hostile elections officials, sometimes-indifferent college administrations, overworked students, record economic inequality, and a global pandemic have wreaked havoc on the ability of students to make their voices heard easily and reliably. American University Graduate Student Emma Godel speaks with Students Learn Students Vote Coalition Special Projects Director Eddy Zerbe about the Student Voting Bill of Rights and also moderates a conversation with students Maya Mahdi, Christyna Reagan, and Sebastian Canales about how this landmark policy could change the national voting rights landscape.

Maya Mahdi is a Philosophy, Politics, and Economics major at Virginia Tech. She is the founder and Student Director of Hokie's Vote Caucus - Virginia Tech's first nonpartisan, student-led voting rights group aimed at institutionalizing voter education at Virginia Tech. Her Instagram is @maya.inc and her Twitter is @mermayamaids.

Christyna Reagan is a Political Science and Gender Studies student at Eckerd College, working as the vice-chair of Eckerd’s chapter of FLPIRG Students and the co-coordinator of the chapter's New Voters Project. She works to engage all students at Eckerd College and hopes to work across the South to empower students from all backgrounds to use their voice. Her Instagram is @christ_y_na and her Twitter is @c_p_reagan.

Sebastian Canales is a Junior majoring in Political Science at the Cleveland State University. He is a member of Campus Vote Project's Student Advisory Board.

Sources:

North Carolina Grants Voting Rights to Former Convicts: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/08/23/north-carolina-grants-voting-rights/

Students Learn Students Vote Coalition website: slsvcoalition.org

Student Voting Bill of Rights Text: https://slsvcoalition.org/student-voting-bill-of-rights/

CIRCLE's data on youth voter turnout: https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/half-youth-voted-2020-11-point-increase-2016 (with a focus on "Electoral Laws and Policies Shaped Youth Voter Turnout")

If you're a student and want to join the Student Voting Network, you can join us here: bit.ly/svnslack

If you want to find more resources about student voting in your state, check out Campus Vote Project's nationwide database for voting information: https://www.campusvoteproject.org/

Produced by Emma Godel and Benjamin Nixon.

Music and Editing by Benjamin Nixon.