Run a Voter Registration Drive at Your School

This is exactly how our own voter pre-registration work started, as a handful of students setting up a table between classes.

Here’s how to bring it to your school:

1. Get it approved. Talk to a student activities coordinator, dean, or teacher about setting up a table in a high-traffic spot (cafeteria, main hallway, lobby) during a free period or lunch. Most schools are receptive to nonpartisan civic engagement. Or you can leave the forms at a school official’s office and students can pick them up during their free time and fill them in and mail when their schedule permits.
2. Get your materials. Paper registration forms available for students without device access.
3. Keep it strictly nonpartisan. No candidate names, no party materials, no buttons or stickers referencing a campaign, just registration itself. This isn’t only good practice, it’s usually a requirement for using school space.
4. Make it easy, not preachy. Most students who don’t register simply haven’t gotten around to it. A five-minute assist at a table does more than a speech. Have a laptop or QR code linking straight to the registration portal.
5. Track your impact (optional but useful). Keep a simple tally of how many students registered or pre-registered. It helps your school see the value of doing it again, and it helps us track collective impact across all our partner schools.

Want help running your first one? We’ve supported drives at Browning and multiple other schools in NYC. Reach out using the form below and we’ll help you plan yours.