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Voter Education
How do you get
voters mobilized? Educate them! A crucial part of voter mobilization
involves engaging voters in the electoral process. Voter education
activities provide unique opportunities for your organization
to improve public understanding of the issues you work on,
how the democratic process works and why citizen participation
matters.
Voter Education Toolbox
Candidate
Events Made Easy Powerpoint
nonpartisan
Voter education resources
Want to
learn more about the candidates but don't know where to begin?
Check out MPP's listing of nonpartisan voter education resources
which includes everything from contact information for the
parties to voter guides at the local level.
Nonpartisan
Voter Education Resources
Candidate
Events
A great way
to engage voters and acquaint them with candidates and their
issues is to organize a candidate event. There are many different
formats to choose from – many choose a traditional debate style
forum while others choose a less formal format, such as a candidate
fair, with the opportunity for voters to speak directly with
their elected officials.
The Minnesota Participation Project is seeking to enlist the
support of nonprofits, either as a lead sponsor or a cosponsor,
to organize and conduct candidate events in the districts they
serve. As a part of this effort, MPP is offering the following
services to interested nonprofits:
- Training:
MPP will offer training sessions on the “how-to’s” of running
a candidate meeting, fair, or forum.
- Planning:
MPP will assist any nonprofit interested in conducting a
candidate event with preparation, planning, and implementation.
- Publicity:
MPP will work to publicize your candidate event through
various media channels.
- Organizing:
MPP will assist with turnout for your candidate event.
MPP is
also willing to tailor our efforts to meet the needs of your
organization. We would like your feedback and suggestions
in order to be the most effective. Please let us know how
we can better assist you in this important voter education
effort.
Mini-Grants
Available for Candidate Events
The Minnesota
Council of Nonprofits, through the Minnesota Participation
Project, is offering small grants to cover the costs of hosting
a candidate event. Up to $200 per candidate
event may be available to you and your organization.
Application
Process
To apply for a Mini-Grant, please complete the application
below. If you are applying for a Mini-Grant for more than
one candidate event, please fill out an application for each
event. We will then call you for a brief follow-up about the
information you provided. After approval of your application,
we will send you an acceptance form (with the terms for accepting
the grant). Once we have received the signed acceptance form,
we will disperse the Mini-Grant. We require all recipients
to submit an itemized expenditure report after the event,
detailing how the money was used. If you have any questions
or concerns please contact Dan Kitzberger, 651-757-3063.
When completed, please mail the application form to the Minnesota
Council of Nonprofits,
2314 University Avenue W, Ste 20, St. Paul, MN 55114. You
can also fax this form to 651-642-1517, email Dan
Kitzberger, dan@mncn.org,
or call 651-757-3063 and include your name, organization,
address, phone, email and the date and location of your candidate
event.
Mini-Grant Application Form
Planning,
Organizing, and Conducting Your Candidate Event
The following
materials are available for your use in planning your candidate
event.
Where
Are Candidate Events Taking Place?
Listing of nonprofit-sponsored candidate events in Minnesota
A Latino
Voter Toolkit is available below in PDF format. Documents
published by Centro Legal and appear with permission on this
website.
Does
My Vote Make Any Difference?
This is a common question - and the answer is yes, of course
your vote matters!
Here are some important examples:
- In
2002, Dan Sparks was elected to the Minnesota State Senate
by 5 votes, and Mike McGinn
was elected to the State Senate by 35
votes.
- In
1999, Leslie Byrne was elected to the Virginia Senate by
37 votes – fewer than
one vote per precinct.
- John
F. Kennedy’s margin of victory of Richard Nixon in
the 1960 presidential race was less
than one vote per precinct.
- One
vote per precinct passed the women’s right
to vote in California in 1911.
Information
and materials below are just a few ways to get you or your
organization started on voter education activities!
Questions? Comments? Contact Maureen Remirez at maureen@mncn.org.
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