EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO REGISTER AND VOTE

We set up college students and other new voters located in swing states with comprehensive voting packets that lead them step-by-step through the voter registration process, the ballot-request process and the voting process. Our free voting packets include detailed instructions customized to the voter's county or college location about how to register and how to vote by mail, vote early or vote in-person on Election Day. The packets include all the forms the voter will need along with deadlines and stamped envelopes already addressed to their county voting office. Voting is more complicated than ever due to the pandemic and changing rules around mail voting and ID requirements, and our packets make sure registering is easy, votes are submitted early – well before Election Day when possible – and ballots are filled out properly, delivered to the right place and counted! Here's the story of how Swing the Vote started.

The last two federal elections were decided by the narrowest of margins in all the swing states. The 2016 election was decided by only 27,257 votes in Wisconsin, 10,704 votes in Michigan and 44,292 votes in Pennsylvania – the populations of the large universities in these states are significantly greater than these numbers! The 2020 election was decided by 81,660 voters in Pennsylvania (1.17%) and 20,628 voters in Wisconsin. Every single vote in these states can make the difference! Many students on college campuses are not aware that they can register to vote from college when they move into a dorm for school, and they need help navigating an increasingly complex complicated registration and voting process. Our research makes the process easy and makes it easy for students to register their friends as well. In 2022, state legislators are increasingly deciding the future of voting and other rights, and state Governors can act as a check on extremist legislatures. The House and Senate are also up for grabs and will determine the fate of the current administration's legislative agenda.

Over a period of 4 months in 2020, over 100 volunteers shipped and distributed 13,700 voting packets to new and existing voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina and Ohio. All of our work in 2020 was funded with stamp and small money donations from our friends and family members including through a GoFundMe which raised over $13,000; and supported by the countless hours of volunteer time researching and designing packets; performing outreach to college students and local groups in swing states; and printing, assembling and shipping voting packets. Here are some of the highlights from 2020: We helped students overcome obstacles of local clerks providing incorrect information about ID requirements and their eligibility to vote given prior registrations in their home states, and personally walked them through the early voting process, getting them to the county offices and getting their registrations sorted and their votes in on time. We received a call from a woman in Pennsylvania, who was born in 1947 but had never voted before and only registered under pressure from her son and her 18-year-old granddaughter because the 2020 election was more important than any in her lifetime. She called to make sure her registration had gone through (it had) and her ballot was on its way (it was). We helped students in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Penn State Altoona whose registrations were rejected due to a computer glitch that didn’t recognize their signatures get registered by calling and faxing county officials, getting election attorneys involved, alerting the news media to the problem and in one case, sending a student organizer from the University of Pennsylvania to the apartment of another on the day of the registration deadline to deliver a paper form and then bring it to City Hall. This student would not have been able to vote otherwise. One Pennsylvania county group, which received 1,700 voting packets from SwingtheVote, told us that our donation of packets "charged people up…both because of the resource and the fact that our neighbors in NY were supporting the effort."

In 2022, Swing the Vote is focusing on voter registration and support for the Midterm Elections in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, three states which have high stakes Governor and Senate races. We are working with campus groups and community groups who are holding voter registration events or going door to door and want to distribute voting packets directly into the hands of voters. We are actively looking for partners in these states to distribute voting packets, so if your group is registering and helping voters, please contact us about how we can support your work.

Swing the Vote is a group of volunteers concerned about the direction of our country and the preservation of Democracy. We are not a formal organization and we are not affiliated with any non-profits, PACs or corporations.

We are working with campus groups and community groups who are holding voter registration events or going door to door and want to distribute voting packets directly into the hands of voters. We are actively looking for partners in these states to distribute voting packets, so if your group is registering and helping voters, please contact us about how we can support your work. Our packets can have the Swing the Vote branding and contact information, or can be tailored to a specific group's needs. The packets are non-partisan and can be distributed by both PACs and non-profits.

If you are organizing a voter registration or turnout effort in Pennsylvania, Michigan or Wisconsin and would like to distribute our packets, please contact us at contact@swingthevote.us about creating location-specific packets for your group or fill out our online form here.

Watch this quick video tour of our voting packets. Our voting packets have step-by-step instructions which are county-specific or specific to your college campus or college town for the three phases of voting: Registering to vote: We include instructions to fill out a paper voter registration form included in your packet and we include a stamped envelope addressed to the county office where your registration needs to go. In some states, such as Wisconsin, there are a couple extra steps to satisfy Voter ID law and proof of residency requirements. Our packets make that process clear and easy for you. Requesting your ballot: We include a paper ballot request from with a stamped envelope addressed to the county office where your ballot request needs to go. In some states, we may give instructions to request your ballot online if that process is easy. 3) Voting: We include step-by-step instructions for early voting by mail-in or absentee ballot, voting early in person and voting in person on Election Day - you decide which is the best option for you. We also include postage for your ballot if your state does not pay for mail-in ballot delivery. Our instructions on how to sign and seal your ballot and, in some states, how to vote with a witness, help you avoid things that prevent some ballots from being counted. We also give you instructions for hand delivering your ballot if you are voting close to Election Day to make sure your ballot is delivered where it needs to go on time so that your vote gets counted.

We look at both the online and paper registration and ballot request process in each state and we give you the instructions that make things the easiest for you. Some states require driver's licenses or DOT ID cards from that state in order to register or request ballots online, and many students do not have those forms of ID, so the paper ballots are a better option in many cases. Most states let out-of-state students register by paper using the last 4 digits of a social security number instead of a driver's license, and it's easier to sign a paper registration form and mail it than it is to upload your signature online.

Swing the Vote's voting packets are comprehensive and location-specific. Most voter registration apps and sites help voters register using online tools, but fall short in situations when paper is required - for example, when a voter does not have a state-issued driver's license and needs to print out and mail in a form and may also need to provide ID when registering. The extra steps of printing a form, filling it out, finding an envelope and stamp, figuring out where to address the envelope, and dropping a paper form in the mail deter many potential voters. Our packets provide the forms and envelopes which are pre-addressed and stamped. Swing the Vote also investigates all the different voting options in a specific county, City or college campus including mail-in or absentee voting, early in-person voting and voting in person on Election Day and we give voters the best path(s) to voting for their location. Our packets are updated throughout the Fall election season as registration and mailing deadlines pass and as specific voting locations are announced by counties. Packets mailed closer to November are geared towards in-person and early voting while packets mailed in August and September also explain the mail voting option.

Yes! Our packets are currently branded with Swing the Vote's logo and contact information, but we can tailor packets to your group's branding or other needs. We are happy to work with you to tailor our packets to reach the largest number of new or infrequent voters in your location and to provide them with the voting support they need..

We have a page of sample packets right here.

Yes they are! In every swing state, college students are allowed to register to vote. Register early so that you have enough time to request your ballot and have it delivered before Election Day!

Yes! Moving to college is considered moving to a new state. You can choose to vote absentee from your home state or register to vote from your college address. The choice is yours. Your new registration at college supersedes the old registration if you choose to vote from college. Choose the state that has the most impact – voting in a swing state or a state with a competitive Governor, House or Senate race could potentially make all the difference where every vote is needed! If your home state is a swing state but your college is a solid blue or red state, contact us for a packet that helps you vote absentee from your home state.

If your driver's license or official state ID is from a different state from your college or where you are currently residing, you can still register to vote using the last four digits of your social security number as your ID. Some states will let you register online only if you have a state-issued driver's license or ID card. Other states will allow you to register online with your social security number, but you will need to upload a quality image of your signature. Our packets provide paper registration forms and stamped addressed envelopes for you to register using your social security number and a signature on paper.

You can volunteer to run an on-campus registration event using our packets. We can set you up with enough packets to register your friends and shepherd them through the voting process. You can reach out to RA's and counselors in dorms who want to hold voter registration and voting information events. You can also help connect our organization to on-campus groups or other political organizations working to register students on your campus and turn out the vote so we can coordinate. Contact us if you are interested in more information.

The best way to get involved is to partner with us to distribute our packets in swing states. If your group or organization is holding voter registration events or going door to door in Pennsylvania, Michigan or Wisconsin, contact us about distributing voting packets. The greatest immediate need is financial support to pay for the cost of printing packets, office supplies, stamps and shipping. Please donate any amount through our GoFundMe page to help us raise these funds and get packets into the hands of voters this season! You can also spread the word about Swing the Vote to friends and family by email and social media. If you are interested in other volunteer work (such as outreach to groups or packet creation), fill out our volunteer form here. Thank you for your support!