About the Contest

The purpose of the Kentucky Voter Education Video Contest is to educate the citizens of the Commonwealth on the importance of voting by challenging college students to develop creative voter education video advertisements that emphasize the significance of voting in state and national elections. These educational videos will undoubtedly increase civic engagement throughout the state by highlighting both the importance of voting and proper Election Day voting procedures.

Students should create videos that detail both the importance of voting and proper Election Day voting procedures.  Student videos must include a brief overview of each of the following content areas:

• Voter Qualifications - Who qualifies to be a voter?
• How to find your polling location
• What type(s) of identification to bring
• When polls open on Election Day
• How to access election results

To access links to data and information regarding voting procedures in Kentucky, visit the following websites:
Secretary of State – www.sos.ky.gov
State Board of Elections – www.elect.ky.gov
Kentucky Civics Website – www.civics.ky.gov
Voter Information Website – www.vote.ky.gov

Each voter video should be at least 60 seconds in duration, but no longer than three (3) minutes. Videos that exceed the three (3) minute limit will be eliminated. All videos should be geared toward the target audience which includes all eligible voters in Kentucky.  Videos may take the form of a short play, commercial, news broadcast, talk show, music video, animation, documentary, etc. Remember….Be Creative!

Any 2008-09 student attending a Kentucky college or university may apply. Employees of, agents of, and individuals affiliated with either the Kentucky Campus Compact, the Office of the Secretary of State and immediate family members are not eligible to enter the contest.

The Kentucky Campus Compact and the Office of the Secretary of State will form a panel of judges to select 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners based on the judging criteria from the submissions uploaded to YouTube.

Contest winners will be announced on October 20, 2008 based upon all videos submitted between May 30 and October 20 (Deadlines subject to change).

1st Place Video receives $1,500.
2nd Place Video receives $1,000.
3rd Place Video receives $500.

In order to successfully enter the contest, a video must conform to the following:

A) Videos may not be larger than one hundred megabytes (100MB)
B) Videos may not exceed three (3) minutes in duration
C) Videos must be in a format accepted by YouTube
D) Videos must be provided in English; however the use of English subtitles is acceptable
E) All videos will be subject to the YouTube Terms of Use Policy; http: www.Youtube.com/t/terms 
F) Students must submit a link to the YouTube entry to sos.civics@ky.gov.

You must also print, complete, and mail the Entry/Consent Form to the Office of the Secretary of State.

Click here to download judging criteria information.