Fewer than half of America’s 18-24 year olds were registered to vote in the last midterm (non-presidential) election year, and fewer still (only 17 percent) actually cast a ballot.

A group from Loyola’s Film and Digital Media program wanted to do their part to change that. So in September 2018, seven members of the FDM staff, students and alumni, joined with the Loyola Dance Program and school kids from Peirce Elementary in Chicago, to create a unique PSA aimed at increasing voter turnout: “Dance the Vote!”

Dance the Vote – Photos by Carly Rude & Joey Filer

Spurred by Loyola’s participation in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, a national effort to increase college students’ participation in elections, Professors Amy Wilkinson in Dance and Aaron Greer in Film wanted to create a fun video that would encourage young people to vote and remind them that civic participation should feel good.

The resulting ninety-second video features over fifty dancers and extras of all ages, and even includes real, live voting booths as props, provided by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners in support of the non-partisan project.

You can see the Dance the Vote video above or at this link.

Information about voting and registration can be found at vote411.org or voterparticipation.org