ABout the challenge

The Tennessee Campus Voting Challenge is a free nonpartisan competition between higher education institutions in Tennessee with a commitment to increasing student voter participation and engagement on campuses across the state. The awards are presented biennially. State awards will be presented again in 2023.

The Tennessee Campus Democracy Network is facilitating this voting challenge in collaboration with the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, a nonprofit organization that empowers colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement.

Click here to register now.

There are currently four award categories given to 2-year and 4-year institutions:

  1. Highest Voter Registration Rate Award

  2. Most Improved Voter Turnout Award

  3. Highest Voter Turnout Award

  4. Best Campus Democratic Engagement Action Plan Award

Why Join the challenge?

Participation in the Tennessee Campus Voting Challenge will give you access to:

  • Direct staff support from ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge and Tennessee Campus Democracy Network leadership and campus coordinators to develop and implement nonpartisan democratic engagement plans tailored to your institution’s specific needs.

  • Access to a community of campus civic engagement leaders in TN.

  • Up-to-date information on election rules and student voting rights. 

  • Registration and education tabling events on campus and at all major fairs, festivals, and move-in days. 

  • Access to ALL IN’s ALLINtoVote.org voter registration and education tool. 

How do Tennessee Campuses Join the Challenge?

Any accredited, degree-granting, post-secondary institution may join and there is no cost to participate. Participation in the Tennessee Challenge will automatically include participation in the national ALL IN Challenge and awards competition.

  1. Complete the online join form.  

  2. Convene a campus-wide voting coalition – A campus-wide voting coalition will develop and implement a democratic engagement action plan. This coalition should include students, faculty, and student affairs staff. You may also choose to include community/national organizations and local Boards of Elections staff.

  3. Develop an Action Plan. The voting coalition develops an action plan that guides increased engagement on campus. ALL IN has example action plans, guidelines, rubrics, webinars, and other resources available. Share your action plan with the campus community and submit to ALL IN to be eligible to earn national awards.

  4. Share your data from the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) generated by the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education at Tufts University. Every two years, participating institutions receive a detailed campus voter registration and voter turnout report from NSLVE. Campuses share their NSLVE report with the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge to be eligible to earn state and national recognition. There is no cost to participate in NSLVE and the study is compliant with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Check here to see if your campus has already authorized NSLVE.