Project Red Leaf’s objective is to grow a conservative voter base on
college campuses across the United States. It is based on the belief
that increasing the number of registered conservative voters on college
campuses will positively impact local, state, and national elections,
giving conservatives a better chance of winning or retaining seats.
Project Red Leaf
(PRL) is a national network of certified Third Party Voter Registration
Organization’s (3PVRO’s). For example, Project Red Leaf – University of
Tampa is a 3PVRO registered in the State of Florida (ID#13-1). So, PRL
has been legally approved and is acknowledged by the state’s Supervisor
of Elections. This is what provides the permission needed to register
people to vote in local, state, and federal elections.
PRL’s motto is: “One student at a time will make all the difference.”
The organization continues its work with college conservative groups
and College Republican organizations, which allows for the leveraging of
national resources. The project follows a two-step process:
1) The college conservative / College Republican organization participates in local activities to promote conservatism.
2) After receiving an education on the key differences between conservatism and liberalism, they are urged to register to vote.
A movement like PRL is needed because:
- During his political campaigns, Barack Obama was on college campuses 1 out of every 10 days.
- Liberal students dominate college campuses at a ratio greater than 2:1.
- The Millennial Generation makes up about 1/5 of the electorate. By 2015, they will account for 1/3.
- Overall, 28% of young voters identify as Republicans, with 30% of
young men categorizing themselves as Republican, compared with 26% of
young women.
- The majority of young voters identify themselves as Democrat (47%),
with 55% of young women classified as Democrats, compared to 38% of men.
Project Red Leaf is busy
at work, attempting to become the largest national, conservative voter
registration organization. Traditionally a bastion of liberal politics,
PRL aims to take a chunk of the college campus electorate by increasing
conservative voter registration year-round.
So, how does Project Red Leaf work? PRL works in conjunction with
conservative groups on any given campus. Once affiliation is made
between PRL and the campus organization, the organization appoints a
Campus Director who works closely with PRL. This individual is the
liaison between the organization and Project Red Leaf’s national team.
Depending on the university, it is recommended that a
minimum of 1-4 hours per month be dedicated to registering individuals to vote.
PRL, though still only in its first year, is currently established on
8 campuses. Already making an impact, at the University of Tampa, with
PRL’s assistance, there was an almost 50% increase in student votes,
from 2008 to 2012, for Republican candidates. I asked PRL president and
co-founder, John Publicover, how many college campuses the organization
plans to have expanded to by election time in 2014 and 2016. He
estimates approximately 40 campuses by the 2014 election and 100 by
2016.
Publicover, originally from New Hampshire, is a student at the
University of Tampa and began working on Project Red Leaf during the
2012 general election when he was helping to organize voter registration
efforts in Tampa Bay. Now a sophomore, he reflects on the fact that his
parents encouraged him to develop his own political viewpoints
independent of theirs. His enthusiastic embrace of conservative politics
was just the momentum needed to propel Publicover to take his passion
to a national level, developing Project Red Leaf.
If you are interested in learning more about Project Red Leaf or
would like to pass this information on to a college student or college
campus, please visit the website at
ProjectRedLeaf.com.
A representative from PRL will assist the school with voter
registration. Alternatively, you can reach the organization by phone at
(813) 501-LEAF or send me an email to
John@ProjectRedLeaf.com.
You can also fill out the form at this
link. To help PRL get the word out
, follow them on
Twitter and Like them on
Facebook.
