URGE Members Got Out the Youth Vote in 2026
URGE – together with our members across our 6 investment states – reached 5.5 million young voters this year! Focusing on voting as one way to show up for your community, URGE members educated and mobilized their networks to equip young people with the information they needed to show up to the polls. URGE members reached Gen Z voters where they were this cycle, including
In Their Communities
Community Action Network leaders developed imaginative, joyful events to educate their communities about voting. During the Texas weekend of action, CAN grantees organized three unique events to engage and galvanize voters. Coffee, Beats, & Ballots: Dance Out the Vote with URGE, Slay the System II: Get Out the Vote with the Colors of Pride Gatherings, and Votes & Voices Zine Fest saw nearly 150 people in attendance eager to make their voices heard come November.
In Ohio, CAN members kept the voter vibes going! In partnership with Abortion Forward, URGE community members made abortion care kits across the state. Then, just before Election Day, community members gathered for Risque: An URGE Burlesque Cabaret. The performances were hot, but the passion for youth activism was even hotter.
On College Campuses
URGE members on college campuses implemented creative, fun events to encourage students to commit to voting. For example, at Wichita State University, URGE members took an idea from Leadership Summit and brought it to life. At Trick or Trivia, attendees answered questions about voting in Kansas, completed commit to vote cards, and got motivated to show up at the polls in November.
Throughout the semester, URGE members collected commit to vote cards. From tabling on campus to fun events like University of California at Merced’s Voter Engagement Slumber Party, chapter members made sure their peers were ready to show up for each other at the polls. After URGE members collected CTVs, we mailed them back to voters to remind them to go vote.
URGE made a statement on 13 campuses across our investment states through place-based ads. We reached 200,000 students by layering web, email, SMS, and print ads. Through this ad effort, we made sure young students of color were engaged, informed, and ready to vote.
At Their Doors
In Alabama, we knocked 100,000 doors in the Birmingham area. We spoke with young people about their top concerns and helped them make a plan to vote. Young voters shared they were worried about affordable housing, healthcare costs, and bodily autonomy. Canvassers heard from several voters that they or someone close to them had to travel out of state for abortion care. Young people are motivated by their lived experiences to show up for their communities.
In Ohio, a group of URGE members at Otterbein University knocked doors around the campus, walking other young people through how to make a plan to vote. These volunteers had great conversations at the doors while building important grassroots organizing skills.
Online
For National Voter Registration Day, we partnered with 15 content creators to participate in our content festival. These creators garnered 2,350 video views sharing their powerful stories. Videos included how voting access IS disability justice and the unique challenges young people face when trying to vote.
We utilized TikTok to engage creators and their audiences around key moments, like National Voter Registration Day, early vote, and Election Day. Organizing young people, means having a strong online presence. Collaborating with content creators across platforms allows us to remain connected and nimble in the lead up to Election Day.
In Their Mailboxes
We reached 160,000 voters through a four-piece direct mail program, targeting voters aged 18-30 living in rural areas in Texas, Ohio, and Georgia. Each piece provided a QR code pointing people to our BallotReady page where they could access important voting information, make a plan to vote, and commit to showing up for their community at the polls. URGE members also handwrote postcards to other young voters encouraging them to vote. Finally, we mailed commit to vote cards back to everyone who signed them as a friendly reminder to go vote.
Thank you!
Thank you to every URGE member who participated in voter engagement activities this year! We reached millions of young voters because of you!
