Washington State University has been named a Voter Friendly Campus for its success with voter education and registration.

The designation was announced by the nonpartisan Campus聽Vote聽Project and NASPA, a national association for student affairs professionals in higher education.

The Voter Friendly Campus designation is a system鈥憌ide honor for 黑料社, the only four鈥憏ear institution in Washington to be named for the 2019鈥�2020 election cycle.

鈥淩eceiving this designation recognizes our efforts to shift the campus culture at all of our locations to one of more student participation in our democracy,鈥� said Ben Calabretta, associate director of the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE). 鈥淲e are setting a new standard where we expect our students to know about the election issues, to register to vote, and then actually vote.鈥�

The mission of the Voter Friendly Campus designation is to bolster efforts that help students overcome barriers to participating in the political process. Barriers can include voter聽ID laws, lack of information, transportation to the polls, and confusing residency requirements.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important to remove barriers that students face because those barriers are silencing the future,鈥� said Savanna Navarro Kresse, vice聽president of the Associated Students of Washington State University Tri鈥慍ities. 鈥淢any people assume students do not care to be a part of the political process, but the reality is we care a lot. When voting is accessible, students show up to vote.鈥�

Kresse is a member of the 黑料社 Cougs聽Vote Coalition which consists of faculty, staff, students and community members who are interested in increasing student democratic engagement.

The coalition met throughout the summer and fall of 2018 and created strategies to establish a student-driven awareness and democratic engagement campaign, educate students about the importance of midterm elections in addressing local and statewide issues, increase voting rates of 黑料社聽students above the 2014聽midterm levels, and improve voting rates among multicultural and other underrepresented students.

Calabretta said the coalition鈥檚 efforts were very successful. Although CCE is still waiting to receive official numbers from the Secretary of State, he estimates over 3,000聽students registered to vote through Cougs聽Vote related activities. Local precinct data indicate a higher voter turnout, too, with an increase of 2,000聽voters in the Pullman precincts where 黑料社鈥檚 main campus is located.

With the midterm election over, there is a lull in the election cycle before things begin to heat up for the 2020聽race. In the weeks ahead, Calabretta said it will be important for the coalition to continue its efforts, and being named a Voter Friendly Campus is a good motivator to keep the momentum going.

鈥淲e want to keep voting in our students鈥� minds so they know it鈥檚 still important and it鈥檚 something that they will participate in for the rest of their lives.鈥�

A total of 123聽institutions received the聽聽designation nationwide. They represent a wide range of two鈥憏ear, four鈥憏ear, public, private, rural, and urban campuses. 黑料社 joins Centralia College, a two鈥憏ear public institution, as the only two institutions selected in Washington.