In the 24 hours after the post, nearly 65,000 18- to 29-year-olds registered to vote, according to Vote.org. Two days later, that number had grown to over 102,000.<\/p>\n
Historically, young voter turnout has been low, particularly in the midterms; in 2014, only 19.9% of eligible voters aged 18 to 29 cast ballots, which was the lowest rate ever recorded, according to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement<\/strong><\/a>. But many are hoping to change those statistics for the 2018 midterms\u2014including caf\u00e9s and coffee companies.<\/p>\n Businesses like Stumptown Coffee Roasters and Build Coffee have launched campaigns to engage not only young voters, but every potential voter in their communities and ensure they make it to the polls.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been hosting various events in our retail caf\u00e9s nationwide to get folks registered to vote,\u201d says Stumptown marketing director, Mallory Pilcher. \u201cWe\u2019ve created signage for our doors, postcards and buttons to encourage people to consider their civic engagement in the midterm elections.\u201d<\/p>\n In the weeks leading up to November 6, they\u2019ve also been offering postcard happy hours, where customers can send postcards to friends and loved ones encouraging them to vote.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted a way to engage with our local communities surrounding each retail caf\u00e9,\u201d explains Pilcher. \u201cVoting seemed like a no-brainer since it is often a topic of conversation in our caf\u00e9s and amongst our staff.\u201d<\/p>\n Build Coffee, a caf\u00e9 located in Chicago\u2019s South Side, also seeks to engage with its local community through its programming. Located in the Experimental Station, which is also home to community-driven non-profits and civic journalism projects, the caf\u00e9 is designed as a hub of coffee and collaboration.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of the events we do foster dialogue between journalists and the public, and aim to demystify journalism for people and empower them to influence the narratives they care about and are affected by,\u201d says Build co-founder Bea Malsky.<\/p>\n On October 26, in partnership with the South Side Weekly, Injustice Watch, and BallotReady, the caf\u00e9 hosted a ballot party. At the event, local journalists explained key races and issues, before the crowd broke into small facilitated groups to go through the ballot and talk about the races further.<\/p>\n \u201cBuild\u2019s lucky to be in a building full of journalists who are working relentlessly to inform their community, at the border of two neighborhoods with histories of organizing and political action,\u201d says co-founder Hannah Nyhart. \u201cOffering a warm space for people to learn about important down-ballot races felt like a way to lean into both of those strengths.\u201d<\/p>\n While these campaigns are inaugural for both Stumptown and Build, each has seen positive results so far.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have registered a lot of people to vote! That feels extremely rewarding,\u201d says Pilcher. \u201cAdditionally, we\u2019ve seen a ton of engagement on social media and actual IRL conversation in our caf\u00e9s amongst customers and baristas alike. It\u2019s really great to share a common space like a caf\u00e9 to discuss the issues affecting our local communities.\u201d<\/p>\n Build\u2019s ballot party drew a crowd of around 35, many regulars and friends, according to Malsky.<\/p>\n \u201c[We] were lucky to have a really full, engaged room,\u201d she says. \u201cWe also heard from lots of people that they\u2019d like to see this keep happening in the future, so we ran the event with an eye toward a program that could also work for elections to come.\u201d<\/p>\n Nyhart echoes similar pride in the turnout and engagement of their ballot party attendees, and is hopeful about the event\u2019s impact.<\/p>\n \u201cIf each of the [35 attendees] communicates what they learned to somebody else,\u201d she says, \u201cthat\u2019s 70-plus people who are able to make informed decisions on down-ballot races on November 6.\u201d<\/p>\n Come election day, Pilcher says she hopes to see a lot of \u201cI Voted\u201d stickers on customers\u2014but they shouldn\u2019t expect to get a free cup of coffee for doing their civic duty. Though seemingly well-intentioned, promotions offering freebies to customers who prove they voted technically violate federal law.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though giveaways are popular, it is illegal to give goodies only to voters on election day in elections where federal candidates are on the ballot,\u201d says Richard Hasen, professor of law and political science at the University of California\u2013Irvine. Additionally, it is illegal to offer incentives to simply register to vote when a federal candidate is on the ballot.<\/p>\n Recently, Philadelphia-based coffee chain Saxbys had to update its promotion offering free maple bourbon lattes to customers who show up with an \u201cI Voted\u201d sticker on November 6; they have since announced that all guests can receive a free coffee or smoothie\u2014no proof of voting required. (Starbucks found itself in a similar situation back in 2008 when it offered a free tall coffee to customers with an \u201cI Voted\u201d sticker.)<\/p>\n Stumptown, Build, and several other caf\u00e9s around the country prove that companies can still encourage voting, without violating the law.<\/p>\n \u201cOur workaround has been to offer free coffee to folks who engage in letter writing campaigns during the lead-up to the election at happy hour times in our caf\u00e9s,\u201d says Pilcher. Stumptown will also provide free coffee, from October 30 through November 6, to customers who prove they canvassed, registered voters, or are volunteering at the polls in their community.<\/p>\n At Build, Nyhart notes that while they\u2019ve offered their space as a point of engagement and helped promote voter registration efforts, they haven\u2019t attached rewards for customers.<\/p>\n Similarly, Atlanta\u2019s Spiller Park Coffee has volunteered its two caf\u00e9 locations as pick-up spots for voters<\/strong><\/a> in need of a free ride to the polls. It also held a voter registration party, is giving out \u201cVote!\u201d pins<\/strong><\/a>, and is posting on social media<\/strong><\/a> reminding people to register to vote and providing information on early voting.<\/p>\n Rise Coffee\u2014whose mission is \u201cto awaken, bring up, and progress\u201d\u2014is a caf\u00e9 in St. Louis that engages customers through its active posting on Twitter<\/strong><\/a>, while its Instagram page bio<\/strong><\/a> links to the Missouri voter registration website.<\/p>\n Through social media activity, hosting voter registration and letter writing parties, and simply raising awareness in-house, these and many other caf\u00e9s around the country continue to build upon the philosophy of the salons and coffee houses of the past, where people could gather and share ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cThe coffee shop has become even more of an egalitarian meeting place to have real-life interactions with people about what is happening in our world,\u201d says Pilcher.<\/p>\n Malsky agrees, stating that there is a \u201cgenerative space coffee shops inhabit between public and private.\u201d<\/p>\n She adds, \u201cFriends gathering together to work toward a common cause is an extremely powerful social force, and we put together events at Build with an eye toward keeping that intimacy while making the space as welcoming as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Caf\u00e9s Seek to Increase Voter Turnout with New Campaigns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1144,"featured_media":19279,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}},"beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[25,24],"tags":[9472],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGetting Out the Vote<\/h5>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Vote_Stumptown_Support.jpg\")
<\/p>\nRewarding Results<\/h5>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Build-Coffee_Vote_SupportWEB.jpg\")
In Hot Water<\/h5>\n
Awaken, Bring Up & Progress<\/h5>\n
Working Toward a Common Cause<\/h5>\n