Announcing the 2018 "Study Abroad & Vote! ToolKit"

American students are increasingly taking part in Study Abroad programs. During the 2015-2016 school year, the growth rate of students studying abroad was 3.8%. Of those 325,339 students, how many realized that they carried with them their right to vote?[1]

U.S. students take part in summer, semester-long, or even entire school year programs to study in countries spanning Europe and Asia. The vast majority of these young men and women are of voting age and in this time of razor-thin margins in so many races, their votes could swing entire elections. In 2016, Donald Trump won Wisconsin by just over 20,000 votes and in 2008 Barack Obama won Indiana by just under 30,000.

Unfortunately, many of these students do not realize that their voting rights travel with them, wherever they are in the world. And even worse, students are often uninformed of the process for voting from abroad. Ensuring that all voters are aware of their right to vote overseas and are able to exercise that right has been central tenant of U.S. Vote Foundation and its Overseas Vote initiative since its inception.

To reach each and every voter living abroad, even those who are only abroad for a short period of time is our goal for 2018. US and Overseas Vote are eager to work with universities around the world to make sure all students studying abroad are informed of their right to vote while living overseas and able to access the simple tools on the Overseas Vote website to request their vote-by-mail overseas ballots.

The new 2018 Study Abroad and Vote! ToolKit is now available to make the process of becoming an active voter overseas easier. The Toolkit materials explain the process and provide outreach banners to encourage students to spread the word. 

Let’s make 2018 the year when U.S. students abroad cast more ballots than ever before in history. Download your Toolkit materials today.