Progressive group to launch virtual back-to-school effort to turn out college voters

A progressive group aimed at boosting youth voter turnout is launching a virtual back-to-school season, shifting its organizing efforts to a digital focus amid the coronavirus pandemic.

NextGen America said Thursday it will push a message that focuses on the Trump administration’s “epic mishandling” of the outbreak and its impact on students and members of campus communities.

“Donald Trump and his cronies have failed students across the country, often throwing them into unsafe school environments during a pandemic,” the group’s states director Jared DeLoof said in a statement.

“We are building up our ranks of students to communicate a simple message with their peers: This president is endangering your lives, and here’s what you can do to vote him out,” DeLoof added.

The progressive organization is seeking to help turn out young voters by educating them about tools to “safely and effectively cast their ballots” amid the pandemic. 

The group is organizing 234 campus communities in 11 states to vote in the November election. The states are Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Iowa, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Florida and Maine. 

NextGen America says it is more than halfway to its national goal of getting 380,000 students pledged to vote.

“It’s totally obvious what Trump is trying to do here: suppress the voices of young people,” NextGen America Executive Director Ben Wessel said in a statement. “Not on our watch. We see it as our duty to reach young voters, tell them the truth, and help them exercise their democratic rights while remaining safe and healthy.” 

In the past, NextGen America has hosted a variety of voter registration events for students, including petting zoos and bounce houses. This year, digital efforts will include events featuring special guests, such as a New Hampshire chapter of the organization partnering with comedian Amanda Seales of HBO’s “Insecure” who will perform a stand-up and promote the importance of voting. 

NextGen will also facilitate virtual events involving students, including class presentations on vote by mail, as well as textbanks and phonebanks. 

NextGen will also send young Americans voter registration applications with prepaid postage. The organization said it will send over 600,000 voter registration applications with instructions to campus mailboxes over the next two weeks.