Rutgers-Newark Takes Lead in Ballot Bowl for Voter Registration for Fourth Consecutive Year

For the fourth year in a row, Rutgers University–Newark  has won its division of the New Jersey Ballot Bowl, a statewide non-partisan voter registration and engagement competition led by and for students.

The registration drive to encourage voters to participate in the state’s gubernatorial race resulted in, Rutgers-Newark beating  six other New Jersey colleges and universities in Conference 1, which is comprised of schools with more than 10,000 students. Since 2018 Rutgers-Newark has won the competition, lapsing only during the pandemic in 2021.

Rutgers-Camden won the Conference 3, which is for smaller campuses.

“We have really engaged students. They’re politically engaged and they really care what happens in their community and in their country,’’ said Isnard Mir-Merced, a program coordinator for community engagement with the Office of Student Life and Leadership, which led the effort. “Our students our are really passionate and want to see not just a better state and  country for ourselves but for the future.’’

Rutgers-Newark student volunteers collected a total of 170 voter registration forms and 2,728 pledges to vote. For the second time in a row, Rutgers-Newark also won the competition’s Community Engage category for encouraging off-campus voters to register or pledge.

Merced and his team travelled to Trenton this week to receive their trophies and meet Lt. Governor and Secretary of State Tahesha Way, who established the competition in New Jersey.

This year’s race for governor between Democratic Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, who won the election, and Republican Jack Ciattarelli garnered the largest voter turnout in two decades, thanks in part to a high turnout among young people.

From late August, when the competition began, through Election Day, , Merced’s team hosted a total of 36 events and partnered with various departments within the Division of Student Affairs, including the Intercultural Resource Center, Office of Veteran Affairs and the Office for Career Resources and Exploration. They also partnered with the Office of New Student and Family Programs

NJ Ballot Bow, which runs from late August up through Election Day, is a program of the New Jersey Department of State’s Jersey Civic Engage initiative and a joint effort with the ALL In Campus Democracy Challenge.