鈥淢ake a Difference鈥擱egister and Vote!鈥�
STUDENT VIDEO CONTEST OFFICIAL RULES
Contest Dates: Tuesday, October 8th 鈥� Monday, November 4th, 2024
Sponsored by a campus faculty/staff/community partnership including Prof. Silvia Carli (Philosophy Dept.), the League of Women Voters of Saratoga County, and the Office of the Dean of Students.
On November 5, 2024, among a number of measures, voters in New York will elect one member to the U.S. Senate, 26 candidates to serve in the U.S. House, and consider Proposal 1, also known as the New York Equal Rights Amendment. Proposal 1 aims to update the New York State Constitution to protect against discrimination based on:
- Ethnicity
- National origin
- Age
- Disability
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
- Gender identity
- Gender expression
- Pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes
- Reproductive healthcare and autonomy
Voting 鈥淵es鈥� means these protections will be added to the Constitution. Voting 鈥淣o鈥� means the Constitution will not change. You can find the full text of Proposal 1 here:
THE CONTEST
We invite Skidmore College students to create 30- to 60-second videos encouraging eligible voters to make a game plan to vote in the November 5, 2024 election and/or inform voters about important issues. We want student voters to know that democracy is not a spectator sport and that no one should sit on the sidelines in an election.
- By participating in the contest, each contestant unconditionally accepts and agrees to comply with and abide by these contest rules and the decisions of the sponsors, which will be final and binding.
- Sponsors reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to disqualify any contestant who they believe has failed to follow these official rules.
- The contest is open to all current Skidmore College students.
- While 1-3 students may work together on the project, it must be submitted by only one of the participants (the 鈥淧roject Leader鈥�). Please include the names of all team members if submitting as a pair/trio.
- Videos must be between 30- and 60-seconds long. Maximum video size is 300 MB.
- Contestants may use a video camera, computer, smartphone or tablet to produce videos.
- AI use should be limited to editing videos.
- Videos may be animated or live action. Anything that might work in a social media video would be considered eligible (song, straight-forward information, cartoon, dramatic portrayal, voice-over etc.). Be creative!
- Videos must contain a link to the and to , which provides detailed information about voter registration, races and candidates in all states.
- No professional assistance is allowed. Adults may provide verbal guidance and appear as actors, but all videos must be produced by students.
- There is no entry fee.
- Entries must be emailed as an attachment to studentaffairs@skidmore.edu. Entries may be submitted starting on Monday, October 7, 2024 until Monday, November 4, 2024.
- Contestants must also have permission of any individual (or, if the individual is under 18, their parent/legal guardian) who is identifiable in the video to submit the individual鈥檚 likeness, persona, or voice to the contest. Your
- submission signifies that you have obtained such consent.
- Video submissions become the exclusive property of the sponsors.
- The sponsors reserve the right to verify the eligibility of any contestant.
- Limit: One entry per person/duo/trio.
- Judging will take place throughout the submission period.
- The Judging Committee consists of members of the League of Women Voters and Skidmore College.
- The Judging Committee will evaluate the entries on a scale of 1 to 10 for each of the following three criteria: 1) Clear and compelling message, 2) Memorable content and delivery, and 3) Originality.
- Winners will be selected and notified during the SECOND WEEK in November 2024 and at the sole discretion of the sponsors. As soon as videos are reviewed for compliance with contest rules, videos may be posted on Skidmore College and the social media platforms as contest entries. At that time, the video may be otherwise published, displayed, reproduced, or replicated (including by the sponsors).
- First Place: $50 Amazon gift card for each team member and lunch with President Marc C. Conner and a group of your friends.
- Runner-up: $40 Amazon gift card for each team member.
- Winners and Honorable Mentions will be invited to an award ceremony at an Election Day Celebration (time and place to be announced).
- Videos cannot have been entered in other contests or won other awards.
- Videos must be nonpartisan and cannot support, demean, or defame any political party or person.
Materials that infringe on the rights of any third party may not be used. Any music used MUST be in the Public Domain, licensed under the Creative Commons License, or be an original musical work created by the student. In the same way, any images used (signs, posters, photos) must be in the Public Domain, licensed under the Creative Commons License, or be an original graphic design created by the student. - Videos must not contain brand names or trademarks.
- Videos must not contain material that is indecent, obscene, pornographic, hateful, defamatory, slanderous, libelous, objectionable, or otherwise lacking in taste or quality in the views of the judges.
- Videos must not contain material that promotes bigotry, racism, hatred, or harm against any group or individual.
- Videos must not contain any material that is unlawful.
- Contestants grant the sponsors the right to use their names, photographs, statements, quotes, testimonials, and video submissions for advertising, publicity, and promotional purposes without notification or compensation.
- Contestants also grant the sponsors the right to use, reproduce, reprint, distribute, and/or display their videos without notification or compensation.
- The sponsors reserve the right to reproduce, reprint, distribute, and/or display the contestants鈥� videos for advertising, publicity, and promotional purposes on their website, at conferences, or at any other venues.
- Contestants agree to indemnify and hold Skidmore College and/or the League of Women Voters of Saratoga County harmless against any and all claims and liability arising out of the contest.
- By accepting the prizes, winners agree to indemnify and hold Skidmore College and the League of Women Voters of Saratoga harmless against any and all claims and liability arising out of use of such prizes.
- Contestants assume all liability for any injury or damage caused from participation in the contest or use/redemption of any prize.
- If, for any reason, the contest is not capable of running as planned, including, due to infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of Sponsor which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this contest, the sponsors reserve the right in their sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify, suspend or extend the Contest and, in the event of any termination or cancellation, select winners from among all eligible, nonsuspect entries received prior to the termination or cancellation.
- Please address all questions about the Contest to studentaffairs@skidmore.edu.
Voting Information Resources:
Information on how to register in New York State:
Information on how to register in any state, and on candidates and issues in all states, including New York:
*Contest guidelines developed utilizing League of Women Voters of Massachusetts
(LWVMA) template.