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AP19:013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 20, 2019
CONTACT:
SOS Press Office
(916) 653-6575
Secretary of State Alex Padilla Recognizes the First Statewide University and College Ballot Bowl Winners
SACRAMENTO - Today, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the winners for the inaugural California University and College Ballot Bowl competition. The 2018 Ballot Bowl winner with the largest number of students registered to vote overall is Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly students and administrators worked to register 3,178 students. Secretary of State Alex Padilla visited the campus today to present a trophy and meet with student leaders. Cal Poly is inducted as the inaugural Ballot Bowl champion into the Secretary of State’s University and College Hall of Fame.
“Campus pride was on display across California in 2018, as students registered over 10,000 of their peers through our inaugural Ballot Bowl," California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said. "Nowhere was that pride more evident than Cal Poly — where over 3,000 Mustangswere registered to vote. Democracy is built upon civic engagement, and I’m so proud to see students and administrators come together to register voters throughout California for the Ballot Bowl. I can’t wait to see how campuses across California get even more creative as they register voters for the 2020 presidential election."
“ASI and the Cal Poly student body are honored to host Secretary of State Padilla on campus for the inaugural Ballot Bowl award presentation,” Jasmin Fashami, Cal Poly Associated Students, Inc. President said. “Civic engagement is an incredibly high priority for ASI Student Government. Being able to exemplify the importance of voter registration in San Luis Obispo through this competition proves to students how powerful their voices truly can be."
“I’m proud of the students who registered to vote and exercised their civic duty as citizens,” said Keith Humphrey, Cal Poly’s vice president for Student Affairs. “Like everything we do at Cal Poly, the ballot bowl competition was a Learn by Doing moment for our students, who understand that they can make a difference in their community, state and country with the power of their vote.”
"We're happy to have been multi-year partners with Secretary of State on the Ballot Bowl and other efforts to make voter registration more accessible for California's college students," said Jonathan Stein, Voting Rights Program Manager at Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus. "We will only have a truly representative California democracy if young people and students raise up their voices."
The Ballot Bowl was developed by the California Students Vote Project, a project of the California Secretary of State, in partnership with then California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom and a coalition of nonprofit organizations. The CSVP aims to increase civic engagement and voter participation among California university and college students.
On August 20, 2018, the Secretary of State’s office kicked off the California University and College Ballot Bowl. The competition ended on October 22, the deadline to register or update one’s voter registration information for the November 6, 2018, General Election. The Ballot Bowl included all of California’s major higher education systems, including the California Community College (CCC), California State University (CSU), University of California (UC), the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU) systems. This friendly competition was designed to encourage universities and colleges to engage their students in the democratic process and register them to vote. Under the California Ballot Bowl, more than 45 public and private institutions participated and worked together to register more than 10,000 students to vote in the General Election.
Three awards will be given to the CCC, CSU, UC, and AICCU systems, for a total of twelve awards. In the spirit of camaraderie, each campus will be able to win only one prize. The Secretary of State will present a resolution to the administration of the winning campuses acknowledging their support and efforts in the competition.
The campus with the largest number of students registered:
UC: UC Santa Barbara
CSU: CSU Fullerton*
CCC: Pasadena City College
AICCU: University of San Diego
The campus with the largest percentage of its student body registered:
UC: UC Irvine*
CSU: CSU Channel Islands
CCC: Santa Monica Community College*
AICCU: Otis College of Art and Design*
The campus with the most creative approach to registering students:
UC: UCLA
CSU: Sacramento State
CCC: Sacramento City College
AICCU: Mount Saint Mary’s University
To select the winners of campuses with the most creative approach to registering students, the Secretary of State’s office reviewed voter outreach plans submitted to our office as well as campus social media and webpages.
To view the full results of the California University and College Ballot Bowl, please visit our website https://caballotbowl.sos.ca.gov/
*In the spirit of camaraderie, each school could only win one prize. The asterisked schools finished second to a school that won in a separate category.
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