Q&A
Voter registration competitions and legal considerations
1:03:52
·
107 sec
Council Members Eric Dinowitz and Erik Bottcher discuss the potential for voter registration competitions at CUNY campuses, while representatives from NYPIRG and CUNY provide insights on legal considerations and current practices.
- There are legal restrictions on offering direct incentives for voter registration
- Competitions between campuses or student clubs for voter registration are possible within certain guidelines
- Some CUNY campuses, such as Baruch College, already implement voter registration competitions among student clubs
- The legality of certain competition formats is debated, with some uncertainty about specific rules
Eric Dinowitz
1:03:52
I heard the word competition, and I like I like it was actually a former college professor of mine who suggested that having voter registration competitions And he he mentioned I mean, I'm not sure this is the panel I can answer, but he said there were some legal hurdles to go through when having a competition to register to most people to to vote.
1:04:14
And you're not in your head as this is familiar to
Erik Bottcher
1:04:16
you?
1:04:16
Mhmm.
Megan Ahearn
1:04:17
Yeah.
1:04:17
You can't, like, trade off.
1:04:19
If you register, you get this thing unless it's available to people.
1:04:23
Anyone who comes to an event, whether or not they register.
1:04:27
So you could do something, like, if you register if you you get thrown into a randomized, like, tech rally sorry.
1:04:37
Raul.
1:04:38
Mhmm.
1:04:39
But it can't be, like, the more you register, the more likely you are to win.
Eric Dinowitz
1:04:45
Well, then our board of elections has a problem because every time you vote, they give out a sticker and the pants.
1:04:51
So we're in trouble.
1:04:54
But it would be even I would suggest even a friendly competition between campuses would probably be okay.
Staci Emanuel
1:05:02
Cheers.
Eric Dinowitz
1:05:03
Yes.
Staci Emanuel
1:05:03
Our colleges do competition.
1:05:06
Barooq comes to my mind.
1:05:09
Every year during their fall fest, they used to have a competition around with their clubs, their student clubs, who could register to vote, you know, the most students.
1:05:19
And, you know, then there would be some kind of prize.
1:05:22
Maybe student affairs would, you know, help them with some additional resources, that particular club.
1:05:27
But there have been some, you know, whether or not you're not supposed to do the competitions or not.
1:05:32
It's news to me, but
Erik Bottcher
1:05:34
whoopsie.
Staci Emanuel
1:05:35
There are some competitions that do go on at some of our campuses.