Donuts are Magic!
Oregon Elections Action Team’s update on our partnership with Donuts + Democracy
The D2 Oregon Elections Team is partnering with the national organization Donuts + Democracy to register and inform young voters ages 18-29. Donuts + Democracy has funded our hot pink donut wagon, signs, and donuts to roll onto college campuses in OR Congressional D5 and WA Congressional D3. Volunteers are trained in voter registration and the Donuts + Democracy model of engaging young voters. All events are non-partisan.
We started testing out the pairing of donuts and voter registration this summer at Good Trouble Lives On tabling at Albina Library, Sunday Parkways, and a welcome back event for students at Mount Hood Community College.
Once we solidified our partnership with Donuts + Democracy, we honed our script for engaging young voters and fully embraced the magic of donuts.
We have collaborated with Indivisible Bend for an event at Central Oregon Community College and with the Center for Social Change and Community Involvement at Lewis and Clark. This week, volunteers rolled the wagons out at Clark College in Vancouver and Clackamas Community College.
Donuts are sweet conversation starters, and young people are hungry for the support and information to register and learn more about how and where to vote. At each event, we’ve had about 200 conversations with students. We met a student who was excited to register because she was no longer homeless; she had moved into a dorm. She is committed to voting because “people living in poverty need to be heard.”
Another student shared his commitment to vote because he has lived with a chronic health condition since childhood and, as an adult, is experiencing the impact of changes in medical care.
Allison’s team at Clark College met two birthday girls who turned 18 and were excited to register on the spot! Another young woman grew up in a family that did not vote and is excited to be voting this year.
As a team, we are committed to continuing this work beyond the midterms, because it is inspiring, as are the young voters' voices!
