CMC students are guiding California voters past the polarization, complexity, and misinformation surrounding the November 6 ballot measures through a new video series.
Their nonpartisan “Video Voter” series, a project of the Rose Institute of State and Local Government, gives voters accessible information to make informed decisions. The two-minute videos summarize both the substance of 11 ballot measures — covering policies ranging from rent control to farm animal safety — and the positions of supporters and opponents.
“The ethos of the project prohibits biases,” said Professor Ken Miller, a faculty advisor for “Video Voter” and Associate Director of the Rose Institute. That ethos, he said, is the ethos of the College. CMC trains students “to be a strong advocate for a viewpoint, but also to be able to take a step back and fairly assess both sides of an argument,” he said.
“Video Voter” started as a student-initiated project for the 2014 election cycle. Though brief, each video includes background on the issue, what the initiative would do if enacted, arguments for and against the initiative, and information on who is supporting or opposing each measure. The videos are unbiased and do not promote personal stances.
“Our scripts are heavily edited to ensure the utmost neutrality and effectiveness,” said Will Frankel ’21, “Video Voter” project manager.
The 2018 edition of the series began this summer after it was clear which initiatives would be on the ballot. From there, seven student researchers wrote detailed analyses on each ballot initiative. Each student was assigned two or three ballot initiatives that they would work on from the beginning to the end.
Video is the chosen format because it is efficient, engaging, and accessible to busy voters, Frankel said. The project gained further credibility as a helpful resource after the 2016 edition was featured in Politico’s California Playbook. The videos accumulated hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube.
Although it is a student-driven project, “Video Voter” also incorporates insights from experts like Bob Stern, past president of The Center of Governmental Studies, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. Stern served as a consultant. That kind of collaboration between students and outside experts is typical of the Institute, Miller said.
He notes that the Institute has worked with the League of Women Voters to produce the series. The LWV links “Video Voter” on its website. All of the videos will also have Spanish subtitles. The Institute reaches out to Latino voting organizations to advertise “Video Voter” as a resource.
The main goal of the series is to serve all voters. But Miller said younger voters may be particularly inspired by the CMC student presenters. The students, he said, provide “a model of what serious voter engagement for young people can look like. It does not have to be silly or dumbed down.”
—Zenaida Huerta ’20