The Tennessee Campus Voting Challenge is a free nonpartisan competition between higher education institutions in Tennessee with a commitment to increasing student voter participation and engagement on campuses across the state. The awards are presented biennially.
The Tennessee Campus Democracy Network is facilitating this voting challenge in collaboration with the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, a nonprofit organization that empowers colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement.
There are currently four award categories given to 2-year and 4-year institutions:
Highest Voter Registration Rate Award
Most Improved Voter Turnout Award
Highest Voter Turnout Award
Best Campus Democratic Engagement Action Plan Award
2026 Tennessee Campus Voting Challenge Awards
In partnership with the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN), CivicTN & Tennessee Campus Democracy Network will announce the 2026 Tennessee Campus Voting Challenge Awards.
Actions to prepare for upcoming state, local, and primary elections and the 2026 presidential election:
1. Join the Tennessee Campus Voting Challenge if your institution isn’t already participating. See a list of participating campuses here.
2. Develop a campus nonpartisan civic engagement action plan using these action planning resources.
3. Submit your action plan to ALL IN.
ALL IN has three action plan submission opportunities during each two-year election cycle. The 2026 action plan submission opportunities are:
December 15, 2025
May 31, 2026
October 1, 2026
4. Encourage your campus president or chancellor to join more than 700 senior campus leaders by signing ALL IN’s Higher Education Presidents' Commitment to Full Student Voter Participation.
Tennessee Campus Voting Challenge campus join link:
https://allinchallenge.org/initiatives/tennessee-campus-voting-challenge/
2026 Student Voting Honor Roll Recipients:
Sewanee: The University of the South - Olivia Moellering-Baratas
Vanderbilt University - Ochuwa Garuba
2026 Highly Established Action Plan Seal
Sewanee: The University of the South
Why Join the Challenge?
Participation in the Tennessee Campus Voting Challenge will give you access to:
Direct staff support from ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge and Tennessee Campus Democracy Network leadership and campus coordinators to develop and implement nonpartisan democratic engagement plans tailored to your institution’s specific needs.
Access to a community of campus civic engagement leaders in TN.
Up-to-date information on election rules and student voting rights.
Registration and education tabling events on campus and at all major fairs, festivals, and move-in days.
Access to ALL IN’s ALLINtoVote.org voter registration and education tool.
How Do Tennessee Campuses Join the Challenge?
Any accredited, degree-granting, post-secondary institution may join and there is no cost to participate. Participation in the Tennessee Challenge will automatically include participation in the national ALL IN Challenge and awards competition.
Complete the online join form.
Convene a campus-wide voting coalition – A campus-wide voting coalition will develop and implement a democratic engagement action plan. This coalition should include students, faculty, and student affairs staff. You may also choose to include community/national organizations and local Boards of Elections staff.
Develop an Action Plan. The voting coalition develops an action plan that guides increased engagement on campus. ALL IN has example action plans, guidelines, rubrics, webinars, and other resources available. Share your action plan with the campus community and submit to ALL IN to be eligible to earn national awards.
Additional resources to support your campus nonpartisan democratic engagement:
From ALL IN
●Local Election Official Campus Engagement Report
● Coaches Voter Engagement Pledge & Resources
● Nonpartisan Student Voting Group Toolkit
The Civic Holidays
Civic Holidays are nonpartisan days of action that strengthen and celebrate our country's democracy.
The 2026 Civic Holidays are:
● August 11, 2026: National Poll Worker Recruitment Day
● September 15, 2026: National Voter Registration Day
● September 17, 2026: Constitution Day
● October 5-9, 2026: National Voter Education Week
● October 20, 2026: Election Hero Day
● October 27, 2026: Vote Early Day
● November 3, 2025: Election Day