As the November elections quickly approach, students in Michigan are getting ready to mobilize their peers to make sure their voices are heard this Election. To prepare, PIRGIM Students has set out to help register hundreds of students to vote this summer for the Congressional and Senate Primaries on August 4th.
Since launching our New Voters Project in Michigan, we’ve recruited a team of 40 interns and engaged over 50 volunteers on actions so far to help register students to vote and ensure that students take the pledge to vote safely.
With the recent update from the Secretary of State announcing that all Michigan voters will receive absentee ballot applications, it is even more important to ensure that all eligible voters in Michigan are vote ready this August.
Here are some of the highlights since we’ve launched the New Voters Project:
At Michigan State University, Rebekah Long, an intern with the New Voters Project campaign, kicked off a 3-day Pledge To Vote Safely campaign event. At the campaign event, students across Michigan reached out to their friends and classmates asking them to take the pledge to vote safely–by registering online, applying for their absentee ballot, and encouraging their friends and family to do the same.
Here’s a photo of Rebekah presenting her campaign plan on our National New Voters Project call to a team of 40 students across the country. 
On the first day, we engaged 17 volunteers, and had over 100 students pledge to vote safely. We reached out to hundreds of students through phone calls, text, or social media. By the end of the week, over 375 different students took the pledge to vote safely. From the campaign event, we identified almost 150 students who want to get involved volunteering or taking on an internship with our program.
Since the announcement from Secretary of State Benson that all 7.7 million registered voters in Michigan will be sent absentee ballot applications, we’ve launched a thank you campaign on social media. In the last two days, more than 25 students tweeted thanking the Secretary of State for her commitment to democracy while protecting the health and safety of Michiganders during the pandemic.
