TheReview_Sept_Oct_2021_FINAL

T he Ann Arbor City Clerk’s satellite voting office at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) evolved from a need to implement new voting reforms, primarily focused on student voter registration, to an artistic collaboration across many university departments, city hall, and advocacy groups. The end result was an aesthetically pleasing, welcoming civic space that engaged new young voters in the democratic process and promoted voting on campus during the pandemic. Creating a Satellite Clerk’s Office on Campus Plans for a presence on the campus of the University of Michigan began to take shape following the passage of Michigan’s Proposition 18-3 in November 2018. Quickly following the approval of these reforms, the city clerk’s office, with support of the Ann Arbor city council, was provided with funding to ensure a satellite office was opened and resources were available for expanded hours for voting in the upcoming 2020 The Ann Arbor CityClerk’s Office at U-M Museum of Art—A Collaboration across Arts, Social Science, and Local Government By Jacqueline Beaudry

elections. Initial conversations about space were very traditional in thought—an office in the Michigan Union that might look and feel like the space at city hall. A bureaucratic looking office arrangement would serve the primary purpose of getting on-campus access to voter registration for students, but didn’t promise to be super exciting either. Surprisingly, the pandemic actually worked in our favor to bring all of the partners together that might not have otherwise been

TURN UP TURNOUT IS A NONPARTISAN STUDENT GROUP THAT WORKS TO PROMOTE VOTER REGISTRATION, TURNOUT, AND EDUCATION ACROSS ALL 19 SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN. THE BIG TEN VOTING CHALLENGE IS A CONTEST THAT HOPES TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF REGISTERED STUDENT VOTERS AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION AT THE POLLS. IN 2018, THE FIRST YEAR OF THE CHALLENGE, THE AVERAGE STUDENT VOTING RATE ACROSS THE BIG TEN CONFERENCE SPIKED TO 43 PERCENT, SURPASSING THE NATIONAL AVERAGE RATE OF 40 PERCENT, AND MORE THAN DOUBLE THE 2014 RATE OF 19 PERCENT.

20 THE REVIEW

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2021

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