“I’m Secular and I Vote” – College Media Toolkit
A MESSAGE TO SECULAR COLLEGE STUDENTS
Dear student,
Freedom From Religion Foundation recently launched its ‘I’m Secular and I Vote’
campaign to ensure the voices of the fastest-growing minority group in America are
heard in the 2016 presidential election.
Since President Obama was first elected, the number of religiously unaffiliated adults in
America has grown by nearly 20 million. Still, most candidates and media outlets
continue to focus their time on traditional religious groups. So we’re taking action to be
more vocal and coordinated as a demographic that should not be ignored.
Our campaign includes outreach to secular student organizations on college campuses
and a targeted ad and social media campaign. As part of this campaign, we hope you
can encourage secular voters to register to vote and speak out on secularism at events.
We also recently ordered a stock of “I’m Secular and I Vote” buttons and stickers, which
we can send to your group free of charge if you wish to participate in these activities.
In addition, we hope you can be active in the media. Below, you will find suggested
social media posts and language you can adapt into an op-ed, or letter to the editor of
your campus or local paper.
These are all great ways to get recognition for your secular student organization. If you
want help pitching a story about your efforts to a local reporter, please email Alec Loftus,
our PR assistant, who can help: [email protected].
Thank you again for your support. We look forward to continuing to work together to
achieve the goals of this campaign and welcome any feedback or questions!
Annie Laurie Gaylor & Dan Barker
Freedom from Religion Foundation Co-Presidents
(Note: FFRF is a 501©(3) nonprofit. This campaign is therefore nonpartisan. FFRF’s toolkit may
be used only for voter awareness and not to promote, oppose or endorse a particular candidate.)
SUGGESTED OP-ED LANGUAGE ON SECULAR VOTING
By XXX BIO, ADDRESS, CONTACT
Since President Obama was first elected, the number of religiously unaffiliated adults in
America has grown by nearly 20 million, according to a recent Pew Research study.
This rising trend is being driven by millennials, 35 percent of whom now classify
themselves as atheists, agnostics or nothing in particular. Many of these new secular
voters are on college campuses and may be voting for the first time this year. Still, most
candidates and media outlets continue to treat all potential voters as part of the faithful.
That’s why, AT XXX CAMPUS, XXX GROUP is proud to be participating in 'I'm Secular
and I Vote'.
This campaign is designed to ensure the voices of the fastest-growing minority group in
America are heard in the 2016 presidential election.
What do secular voters want? In addition to supporting the separation of church and
state, secular voters list civil rights, women's rights, reproductive freedom, climate
change and marriage equality among their top concerns, according to a recent survey
from Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is spearheading this nonpartisan
campaign.
According to the survey, secular voters are highly independent and would be open to
any candidate who acknowledges them and commits to keeping religion out of
government. As part of these efforts, we hope secular voters will be more vocal, while
rejecting efforts to push religious dogma on the nation. We also hope the mainstream
media will do more to cover our concerns, as they spend hours analyzing the political
leanings of orthodox religious groups.
Currently, we’re more likely to see a reality TV star elected than an open atheist. So we
need to encourage secular candidates to run for political office.
This election year, XXX SECULAR CAMPUS ORGANIZATION will be working to
encourage students to register to vote, speak out on secularism and get involved in the
political process.
Secular voters could swing the election if we voted in big enough numbers, and that’s
something that should get the attention of all candidates.
SUGGESTED SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS
Please help support our campaign today by posting the following message on your
Twitter or Facebook pages. You can also use our secular voter pin logo in your posts,
which is attached to this toolkit.

TWITTER: Vote based on reason, not religion? Follow @FFRF and check out
“I’m Secular and I Vote” campaign at www.ffrf.org #Election2016

FACEBOOK: Do you vote based on reason, not religion? Follow Freedom from
Religion Foundation and check out the “I’m Secular and I Vote” campaign at
www.ffrf.org to ensure the voices of the fastest-growing minority group in
America are heard in the 2016 election!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why is the ‘I’m Secular and I Vote’ campaign important right now?
While candidates and the media focus on religious and minority voting groups, we need
to inform them that secular voters are actually the fastest-growing group by religious
identification in America, and we shouldn’t be ignored.
Do you see secular voters lining up behind any particular candidate? And would
they ever support a Republican?
Our recent survey of 8,000 secular voters shows that they are highly independent and
would be open to any candidate who acknowledges them as a group and commits to
keeping religion out of government. Seventy percent decline to affiliate themselves with
one of the major political parties and more than 20 percent identify as independents.
While it’s true that the largest group of seculars (36 percent) call themselves
progressives or liberals, candidates from all sides of the political spectrum should be
reaching out to this growing group of potential voters.
How do you reach secular voters since they aren’t in churches or other easy-tofind places?
In today’s digitally connected world, you don’t need to go to a church to reach voters.
Millions of secular voters are engaging on social media and we are reaching out to them
through our campaign on college campuses.
What do you recommend candidates do to reach these voters?
Visiting college campuses provides a great opportunity for candidates to connect with
thousands of young millennial voters who are leading the drive away from religion in
America. Candidates should regularly acknowledge that the nonreligious are valued
citizens and a part of the American fabric. They should be clear about their commitment
to the separation of church and state. They should also talk about solutions to issues
that these voters are concerned about, such as women’s rights, contraceptive and
abortion rights, marriage equality and climate change.
What is your position on candidates who profess that belief in a higher deity is
relevant or necessary to running for public office?
Statements like those could be very damaging to a candidate in the general election.
The number of religiously unaffiliated adults in America has grown by nearly 20 million
since the last time we had an open presidential seat. Secular voters now outnumber
most traditional religious demographics and we could swing the election if we vote in big
enough numbers.
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