Community College of Denver Joins Campuses Nationwide in Effort to be “Voter Friendly”

Community College of Denver (CCD) has been designated a “Voter-Friendly Campus” by the Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project (CVP) and NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. 

The mission of the Voter-Friendly Campus initiative is to bolster efforts that help students overcome barriers to participating in the political process. CCD was evaluated based on a campus plan about how we would register, educate, and turn out student voters in 2020; how we facilitated voter engagement efforts on our campus; and a final analysis of our efforts –  all in the face of the upheaval caused by a global pandemic.  

“There are several obstacles that students face when registering and casting their vote, mostly related to education, geography, and accessibility,” said Tammi Spicer-Dormuth, assistant professor of political science at CCD. “Civics studies are underfunded and minimally present throughout K12 systems, states do not proactively encourage registration when eligibility is attained, and college is often the first time a citizen may be approached about registering and participating." 

Over the past year, CCD’s political science program has supported several events and initiatives, including voter registration drives with public officials, and information sessions explaining and analyzing statewide ballot initiatives. These efforts are designed to increase civic participation beyond the election cycle by engaging students with information.  

"Political advertising is intended to persuade rather than inform,” explains Spicer-Dormuth. “The political science program at CCD aims to coordinate events that do just the opposite. Our motivation behind these initiatives is to help students navigate the election process, without engaging in partisan activities, or with partisan organizations.” 

The Voter-Friendly Campus designation program was started through the partnership of Campus Vote Project and NASPA in 2016. The goal of the program is to help institutions develop plans to coordinate administrators, faculty, and student organizations in civic and electoral engagement. For more information about all the institutions that received the Voter-Friendly Campus designation for 2020-2021, visit voterfriendlycampus.org. 

To get involved with elections at CCD, visit ccd.edu/Vote