December 2006

Advancement Report
Pew Grant Supports Young Voter Strategies

Student Public Interest Research Group’s New Voters Project staff prepare to knock on doors and register young voters.

By Catherine C. Fox

The Pew Charitable Trusts has given a multimillion-dollar grant to the Young Voter Strategies program at GW’s Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) to increase voter registration for 18- to 30-year-olds.

The school
has a mission of preparing students for careers in applied politics and offers students myriad opportunities for
on-the-ground training.

Young Voter Strategies program director and Graduate School of Political Management research associate Heather Smith worked with more than a dozen nonpartisan organizations across the nation in 2006 to develop innovative voter registration strategies and generate a surge in young voter turnout.

“Peer-to-peer social networking is the most effective way to encourage young people,” says Smith. “We are very excited to be working with some of the best organizations engaging young adults today.” The program surpassed its goal of registering 350,000 young voters, signing up more than half a million by election day. And the young voter turnout on Nov. 7 far exceeded that of 2002, the last midterm election year.

Now that the elections are over, Young Voter Strategies and a team of academic researchers are analyzing the efforts of all participants and will compile the results in a “Young Voter Toolkit.” The toolkit, along with existing research manuals, polling reports, and training tools, will be available to the public, opinion leaders, and nonprofits planning strategies for the 2008 elections.

The Pew Charitable Trusts, a longtime partner and supporter of GW, serves the public interest by providing information, advancing policy solutions, and supporting civic life. “They have been supporting our young voter work since 2003, and have made research, as well as the direct engagement of young voters, possible,” Smith says.

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu