University of Minnesota students ride in style to vote with Party to the Polls

Thanks to a new initiative at the University of Minnesota, students are riding to the polls in style.

To encourage early voting in the Nov. 8 midterms, a student-led, nonpartisan voter outreach campaign introduced Party to the Polls, an initiative offering students free party bus and limousine rides to the Minneapolis early vote site.

"Finding opportunities to make democracy accessible and make voting a flexible and easy thing is really important," said Carter Yost, director of Row the Vote (RTV). "Early voting is one of the easiest ways to do that, especially in Minnesota."

Party to the Polls is a partnership between RTV and organizations including Vote Early Day and the Minneapolis Foundation. Together, the groups worked to come up with initiatives that would help get transport students from campus to the early vote site.

"That fundamental idea transformed into, 'How do we make that fun, exciting and inviting for students?'" Yost said.

As it turns out, party buses and limousines did the trick. The initiative has already been largely successful — Yost said more than 100 students have taken part this week, with hundreds more scheduled for their luxury rides, which wrap up Friday.

Row the Vote also has registered more than 2,000 students to vote this semester, and has received voting pledges from over 7,000.

"It's not about where you vote, it's about making sure that you do," Yost said. "Party to the Polls is one of the many ways we can do outreach to students to make sure that ballots are turned in and votes are cast."

Macy Harder (macy.harder@startribune.com) is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune.