OXY Votes

Mark your calendars. Everything you need to know about mail-in and early in-person voting, including the first day you can cast your ballot in the election. Use this MAP to answer the following questions:

• Can I vote by mail without an excuse?
• Can I register to vote and cast my ballot on the same day?
• Can I vote in person before Election Day?
• After I vote by mail, can I track my ballot?

Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in six basic areas: background information, issue positions (via the Political Courage Test), voting records, campaign finances, interest group ratings, and speeches and public statements. They also offer the Vote Easy widget to help you sift through information to determine your "political soulmate" from among the candidates.

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) today released a "Toolkit for the Promotion of Voter Participation for Students" to provide resources for educational institutions to help them identify and implement actions to assist eligible students with voter registration and voting. Recognizing that our nation's schools, colleges, and universities have a critical role in promoting civic engagement, the toolkit will provide them with strategies to support their students.

"Voting is fundamental to our democracy, and our schools and colleges play an important role in helping our students become active participants in our democratic society," said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. "From providing civic education during a student's elementary and secondary school years to facilitating the voting process for all students during their postsecondary educational experience, our education system helps students engage in the electoral process. I'm proud that the resources we are releasing today will help reduce the barriers and obstacles many students—especially our underserved students—face in participating fully in our democracy." 

The toolkit includes explanations of current legal requirements for schools, recommendations for non-partisan steps they can take to expand voter participation across their student bodies, federal resources they can utilize and share to support voters in their communities, and examples from the field with effective and promising strategies from schools across the nation.

Guides.vote produces nonpartisan voters guides that show where candidates stand. They’re produced by veteran journalists with links to credible sources. Whether you vote by mail or head to the polls, their guides let you do it with confidence.

PolitiFact.com is a nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute. It began in 2007 as a project of the Tampa Bay Times (then the St. Petersburg Times), with reporters and editors from the newspaper and its affiliated news media partners reporting on the accuracy of statements made by elected officials, candidates, their staffs, lobbyists, interest groups, and others involved in U.S. politics.

FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.

ProCon.org is an online resource for research on controversial issues. The content of ProCon.org is produced by five staff researchers, and its stated mission is "Promoting critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, primarily pro-con format." For each of its U.S. presidential election sites since 2008, ProCon.org has attracted millions of readers with its coverage of the candidates and their positions on key issues. The New York Times (“Great Free Websites for Teaching Election 2012,” September 5, 2012) hailed the ProCon.org election site as: “The most comprehensive teaching tool for researching the candidate’s stance on issues.”

Color Of Change PAC is a Political Action Committee focused on building We’re the political action committee focused on building Black political power, uplifting Black voices, and celebrating Black joy. More at facebook.com/colorofchangepac #VotingWhileBlack

Voto Latino is a grassroots political organization focused on educating and empowering a new generation of Latinx voters, as well as creating a more robust and inclusive democracy. Through innovative digital campaigns, culturally relevant programs and authentic voices, we shepherd the Latinx community towards full realization of its political power. More at votolatino.org

The LWVC Education Fund has been hard at work to get California’s voters election-ready! Visit us at CaVotes.org to grab your copies of all of our unbiased ballot measure education materials including Easy Voter Guide, Pros & Cons, and VOTE411. We spent August mired in data, studying the ballot measures and refining our explanations -  collaborating with volunteers, community partners, the Legislative Analyst Office, and community reviewers to ensure that we have provided unbiased, accurate, understandable ballot measure education for California’s voters. We know that when people understand what’s on the ballot, they are more likely to use their power and vote, and the LWVC Education Fund has a high priority on building power in our communities through voting!  Be on the lookout for a “Vote Ready California” email from us in the coming weeks to make sure that you (your friends, your family, and your neighbors!) have everything you need to be Vote Ready when ballots are out!

CLUE, educates, organizes, and mobilizes the faith community to accompany workers and their families in their struggle for good jobs, dignity, and justice.

SURJ is a national network of groups and individuals working to undermine white supremacy and to work for racial justice. Through community organizing, mobilizing, and education, SURJ moves white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice with passion and accountability.

We work to connect people across the country while supporting and collaborating with local and national racial justice organizing efforts. SURJ provides a space to build relationships, skills and political analysis to act for change. Click here for more information.

Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) is a leading advocacy organization dedicated to building a new economy for all.

Founded in 1993, LAANE is a nationally recognized advocacy organization dedicated to building a new economy for all. Combining dynamic research, innovative public policy, and strategic organizing of broad alliances, LAANE promotes a new economic approach based on good jobs, thriving communities, and a healthy environment. For the past 25 years, LAANE has been at the forefront of Los Angeles’ progressive movement, transforming conditions in key industries and improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of working families in southern California. LAANE’s groundbreaking policy wins and new approach to economic development have been a model for similar efforts across the country.

California ballot propositions - Ballotpediaballotpedia.org

CALPIRG Students is a student organization here that works to protect the environment, fight hunger and homelessness, and promote civic engagement. And @oxy.calpirg is our own campus chapter.

This Fall our priority campaign is our New Voters Project.

New Voters Project works with college campuses, cities, and states to make it easier, safer, and more accessible for students to vote. They’re building support for statewide reforms including automatic voter registration and vote by mail. New Voters Project also works with campuses to be ready to run a virtual civic engagement program in the fall. Additionally, they're connecting with college campus administrators to make voting and civic engagement more institutionalized in residence halls, class registration, and other aspects of student life.

• Want to join the national New Voters Project calls? RSVP here!
• Want to learn more about transitioning your civic engagement program online? Check out the Digital Toolkit!

StudentVote.org was launched by the Student PIRGs in partnership with Rock the Vote. Since 2008, we’ve worked with more than one hundred campus and group partners. Below are our premier partners.

• Voting Resources: Need to check your registration status? Want to learn about voter ID and other requirements? Find all the information you need to vote in your state here.
• Get Involved: Interested in interning, volunteering, or getting other students to turn out to vote? Find out ways to get involved here.

Pledge to support our work to turn out the youth vote!

CALPIRG is our student run and funded non-profit that was started over 50 years ago to make social change and train the next generations of activists! We are currently focused on our campaign to help turn out the youth vote!

Our democracy works best when we all participate and everyone weighs in on who gets elected. We believe that the full participation of young people in the political process is essential to a truly representative, vibrant democracy. Together young people have the power to elect the next generation of leaders who will fight for our shared vision of the future, but only if we vote. Through class presentations, educational events, and online outreach we work to make sure every student has the opportunity to have their voice heard in our elections. Together we can have an impact on our future, on our state, and the country. Your pledge gives us the resources, political power, and the grassroots organizing power to make a difference.

Your pledge gives us the resources, political power, and the grassroots pressure to win on this issue.
Your membership also supports our other campaign work from tackling climate change, making textbooks affordable by switching to Open Source books, and more!

As busy college students, pledging to support our student-directed nonprofit is an amazing way to help with these issues. Thanks to our pledging members in the past few years we have:

• Passed Prop 67 to ban single-use plastic bags in CA
• Helped over 50,000 students register to vote
• Defended 2.6 billion dollars in Pell Grant funding for student financial aid
• Committed the UC System to 100% clean renewable electricity
• And helped campuses across the state make commitments to banning single-use plastic!

Pledge and you'll join thousands of other students this year in becoming a new member of CALPIRG Students, helping build a campus and state-wide movement for our student voice to be heard.

SLICE is supporting the California Campus Compact Fellowship program in which a $500 grant is provided to an Occidental student working to advance civic engagement and voting initiatives. This fall, the Occidental Campus Compact Fellow will be supporting student voter registration, education, and mobilization. Additionally, they will promote the opportunity for Oxy students to serve as poll workers at the 11-day Vote Center located on the Occidental College campus.

We are excited to launch this new discussion group in the Oxy community, organized by the 3 affinity alumni groups. Please participate and help spread the word, and RSVP so we can plan accordingly.

Introducing Diversity of Thought, a series of collaborative study and discussions.

The premise is simple: to learn, discuss and co-create across race and ethnicity, and generations, around today’s most pressing issues. We want to hear your perspective as we engage civically, build wisdom and bridges, and mobilize action as an Oxy community.

Sincerely,

Occidental College Latinx Alumni Association (OCLAA)
Oxy Black Alumni Organization (BAO)
Oxy Asian Pacific Islander Alumni (OXY API)

The JusticeLA Coalition was born in the Fall of 2017 from the community based advocacy of countless families separated by the largest jail system in the world. In partnership with grassroots organizations, advocates, directly impacted communities, and stakeholders, they work to reduce the footprint of incarceration by stopping jail expansion and reclaiming, reimagining and reinvesting dollars away from incarceration and into community-based systems of care. REGISTER HERE