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2022 Alaska Youth Voting Challenge

First Alaskans Institute (FAI) is announcing a special opportunity for our youth, aged 17 and younger to learn about the importance of civic engagement! This Youth Voting Challenge is an opportunity to creatively encourage eligible voters in your community to vote in the general election on or before 8 pm AST, November 8, 2022. 

First Alaskans Institute is a statewide Alaska Native non-profit organization. Our interests include overcoming the historic and current barriers that prevent our community members from participating in the voting process. To this end, we invest in educating about the voting history of Alaska Natives and other peoples of color to improve relations and opportunities to practice our civil rights. 

This statewide challenge seeks to:

• Build confidence, ability, and expectation of our youth in embracing their part of the voting process; 
• Teach the value of increased civic engagement across the State of Alaska;
• Normalize and create a habit of engagement in the voting process in youth before they become eligible to vote;
• Encourage youth leadership in local, statewide, and national issues impacting their lives now, and in the future; and
• Help Alaskans learn about the voting barriers of Native peoples and other peoples of color and how to overcome these issues by strengthening voter turnout.

What you need to know:

• Eligible participants include youth groups, student groups or schools for grades pre-K to 12^th grade, located within the State of Alaska;
• Only children and youth, aged 17 years old and younger, in those approved youth groups, student groups or schools can actively participate in outreaching to encourage eligible voters to turn out to vote; and
• Participant efforts may be supported by and/or educated by those eligible to vote (18 years old or older).
• How to Apply: Eligible youth groups or schools must submit complete Letters of Interest (LOI). Read full instructions below.  
  • LOIs must be submitted no later than 8 pm Alaska Standard Time on November 8th (Election Day)

Letter of Interest (LOI) Instructions

Interested parties must submit a letter of interest. There are two options for submitting. LOIs can be completed and received by First Alaskans Institute via email at [email protected] or they can be completed online through Survey Monkey and submitted no later than 8 pm Alaska Standard Time on November 8^th (Election Day). LOI’s cannot be longer than 3 pages in length with 1-inch margins, 11-point font, and single or double spaced.

Read the prompts below thoroughly and either submit your written LOI to [email protected] or submit your responses online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AKYouthVote2022.

Provide brief responses to the following questions:

1. School or youth group name and address.
2. Point of contact (POC) name, email address, phone number, and role with youth group or school. POC must be able to answer FAI questions, relay the status of application, and make payment arrangements for school or youth group(s) that wins the Challenge.
3. How will the Alaska Native community and youth be engaged in your effort to increase the voting turnout in your community? Be specific about the activities your group intends on completing to encourage adults in your community to vote.
4. How will the Native community benefit from this effort?
5. How will the non-Native community benefit from working alongside the Native community and other communities of color in this effort?
   *Please note: In the event of a tie or competing youth groups or schools in the same voting district(s), the information provided in questions 3-5 may be used to help FAI decide who the winner(s) will be.
6. What is the voting district(s) location that participants will focus their voter turnout efforts in?
   *Please note: The voting district(s) listed here will be the only ones that count for this applicant’s performance in the challenge even if there are other voting districts associated with or located where the youth group or schools is located.
7. How will you know if this effort by the youth group or school helps increase the voting turnout in the selected voting district(s) listed in question 6 above?
8. Describe what the youth group or school will use the funds for if they win. 
   *Please note: The incentive prizes may not be divided or distributed as cash to any individual child or youth, and instead must be used to purchase educational or recreational items that benefit the winning school or youth group.
9. Affirmatively agree that the goal of the Alaska Youth Voting Challenge is to increase voter turnout in Alaska. Also, by submitting this LOI you swear and affirm that your efforts will be focused on increased voter participation in your selected district(s), but will not, in any way, reward or compensate an individual voter for their vote. Please state your affirmation in your LOI.
10. Do you affirmatively agree to ensure that if your school or youth group is a winner of this challenge, no funds received from this challenge will be disbursed directly to a child in the form of a monetary payout? Please state your affirmation in your LOI.
11. By participating in this challenge, you are committing to a non-partisan get out the vote effort. This means the supporting and/or educating adults for the youth group or school must commit to this as well as the participating youth. The youth must learn what this means and ensure their efforts always remain non-partisan as they perform get out the vote efforts leading up to and on the day of the election. Please affirmatively state in your LOI that you, your youth group or school, others supporting and/or educating the youth in this challenge, commit to the following:
    • By submitting this LOI you swear and affirm that all get out the vote efforts that you conduct under the Alaska Youth Voting Challenge will be strictly non-partisan and will not, in any way, endorse a specific candidate or induce voters to vote for a specific candidate. Any partisan effort will immediately void your participation in the Alaska Youth Voting Challenge. Please state your affirmation in your LOI.
12. By participating, you and your youth group are also agreeing that this is an effort to increase civil civic engagement. It is not an opportunity to cultivate ill-will, contention, bad behaviors, engender negativity or bullying, or any of the like. It is meant to help teach our young people how to work together to accomplish something for their communities and how important voting is. By submitting this LOI, you are committing to this civil civic engagement effort, which means those involved, either the supporting and/or educating adults or the youth actively engaging in outreach, must refrain from anything outside of this intention. It also means that anyone who submits an LOI agrees to not dispute this effort by FAI, how FAI will determine the winners, or disperse the funds. Please affirmation in your LOI.

How Selection Works:

FAI will wait until the Alaska Division of Elections certifies the 2022 general election results, tentatively scheduled for November 29, 2022, before determining the participating district with the highest percentage increase of voter turnout compared to the 2018 general election. 

The school or youth group with an approved application that:

1. Is located in the district(s) identified in its application,
2. Has the district(s) with the highest turnout by percentage increase from the 2018 general election, and
3. Can show their efforts helped increase voter turnout in their identified districts will win an incentive prize – 1st place is $15,000, 2nd place is $10,000, and 3rd place is $5,000. Prizes will be distributed to the entity that submitted their completed letter of intent and must be used to purchase educational or recreational items that benefit the winning school or youth group.

FAI will then announce the winners on our website and all applicants will be emailed and/or called. 

Note: FAI will need to wait to announce winners until after the General Election has been certified by the Alaska Division of Elections which is tentatively scheduled for November 29, 2022. The winners of this challenge will not be selected until after this date.  

Important Note:

The goal of the Alaska Youth Voting Challenge is to increase voter turnout in Alaska. By submitting this application, you swear and affirm that your efforts will be focused on increased voter participation in your selected district(s), but will not, in any way, reward an individual voter for their vote. 

This program does not violate federal or state law.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected] or 907-677-1700.

Good luck! Let’s Get Out The Vote, Alaska!