JumboVote
In the run-up to the 2016 general election, Tufts University launched JumboVote as a multifaceted, university-wide initiative to boost political learning, engagement, and voting in this year’s presidential election—and beyond. Spearheaded by Tisch College with support from the Office of the Provost, there are JumboVote representatives in every Tufts school and major administrative department, as well as among the student body. The initiative worked to facilitate voter registration, tackle barriers for Tufts students to vote in local communities, increase voter education, and support events and programs that foster political engagement.
JumboVote's work to infuse political learning and engagement on the Tufts campus contiues, and we look forward to fully ramping up the initiative again through voter registration drives and other initiatives ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
JumboVote 2016 Accomplishments
One of JumboVote’s signature features is a partnership between Tufts University and TurboVote, a product of Democracy Works, a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit. More than 1,000 students registered through JumboVote for the 2016 elections. Other accomplishments included:
- 65+ student volunteers worked on JumboVote on all Tufts campuses
- 27 days of tabling to register voters
- 1,366 people registered to vote through JumboVote: 1,055 through TurboVote and 311 through paper forms delivered to respective City Halls
- 20+ events were held on three campuses, including a music festival!
- 12 student groups were involved in planning events, including the Tufts Democratss, Tufts Republicans, CIVIC, the Panhellenic Council, the ACLU, the Global Health Interest Group, and Medical Students for Choice
- No students were turned away at polling locations, due in large part due to student-led efforts driving vans, monitoring polling locations, and greeting fellow students, as well as strong support from the Office of General Counsel and Office of Community Relations.
Tufts Voting Data
In 2016, Tufts released the data that would serve as a benchmark for measuring our goal of increasing student political engagement: the voting and registration rates for all enrolled students in the 2012 and 2014 elections.
For more information, email jumbovote@tufts.edu. You can also follow JumboVote on Facebook and Twitter!
Successful JumboVote Initiative Helped Over 1,300 Students Register to Vote
The initiative, organized by Tisch College but led primarily by students, combined varied efforts to facilitate voter registration on campus.