Amidst a flurry of Welcome Week events, the University of Minnesota’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) registered over one hundred new voters and gained more than 500 pledges from students, according to USG leadership, to vote as part of its Row the Vote campaign.
The campaign started as the Row the Vote Initiative in 2020 and was taken over by USG in 2022. Following a successful run in 2022, Row the Vote is back for the upcoming presidential election.
Row the Vote is a nonpartisan campaign focusing on educating University students on their right to vote. During Welcome Week, USG held tabling events at the Campus Exploration Fair on Friday and Explore U at Huntington Bank Stadium on Saturday.
Joslyn Blass, USG executive director of government and legislative affairs, said that although USG has several big events planned, its focus this election season was class visits and tabling at campus events.
“We find that things like class visits are the most effective way to engage with a large and diverse group of students,” Blass said. “That’s why we are prioritizing the class visits.”
According to Blass, USG’s goal for this year’s campaign is to register at least 3,000 students to vote and to get 7,000 pledges. Additionally, USG is aiming for a campus-wide 60% voter turnout.
Blass said the USG Government and Legislative Affairs Team often find students are already registered to vote. Asking them to pledge is a way to remind students of their role in the election.
“Pledging to vote via physical forms has multiple benefits for voters,” Blass said. “First off, studies show that once someone pledges to vote, they are more likely to actually follow through. Additionally, through these pledge forms, our campaign is able to follow up with students to remind them about different ways to vote and support them in navigating their plans to vote.”
Riley Hetland, USG director of civic engagement, is responsible for registering as many voters as possible by planning Row the Vote events in the months leading up to the election and educating student voters. According to Hetland, USG’s most important event falls on Sept. 17, National Voter Registration Day.
“We’ve been planning that for quite some time,” Hetland said. “We’re trying to get as many policymakers to come to campus as possible, touring them around, putting them in front of classes and just explaining how important it is to vote, whoever you vote.”
As an immigrant, Clara Jünemann, USG vice president, said she did not initially have the right to vote. She said since becoming a citizen it has been important to her to be engaged in elections.
Jünemann said not having the right to vote right away made her want to have a voice even more. Additionally, she said it made her want to help students and her community become more informed and involved.
“It’s really beautiful to see how many students on this campus are interested and who show up on election day, and it just makes me excited every time,” Jünemann said. “I’m very excited to see how many people we’ll reach this year, and hopefully it will have a big impact.”
Similarly, Hetland hopes that Row the Vote efforts leave students feeling empowered in their right to vote. She said she believes many young people think their voice does not matter in elections.
“No matter who you vote for, you deserve to get your voice heard,” Hetland said. “It’s critical that young people vote, because we’re granted this opportunity to take part in our government, and this is how we can make our voices heard.”