我投票!

海伦基督 ’24 remembers how excited she was the first time she got to cast her vote in person in November 2020. 在春季初选中通过邮件投票, 由于大流行, 那个秋天, “My friends and I walked over to the polling place on Montgomery Avenue and then went to Dunkin’ Donuts afterwards as a reward. 真的很有趣!”

For the hotly contested midterm elections this past November, Christ signed up to drive the College’s campus van shuttle to and from the pollls. “I thought it was such a great idea that 布林莫尔 was providing a shuttle,她说。.

“I was excited to volunteer to help remove any possible obstacles to students being able to cast a vote.——海伦·克里斯特24岁

The College gave rides to 222 students on Election Day 2022, 用一辆面包车(由学生驾驶), 教师, and staff volunteers) running a continuous loop between Goodhart Hall and the 布林莫尔 Presbyterian Church polling station from 9 a.m. 到8点.m.

“Colleges are a prime space for getting students off on the right foot when it comes to participation in elections,公民参与主任埃莉·埃斯蒙德说. “It’s an exciting part of a student’s experience as a young adult to vote for the first time and to figure out what issues are important to them.”

Esmond refutes the common perception that young- adults are apathetic when it comes to politics and civic engagement. “我从来没有发现这是真的，”她说. “I’ve always found that students are very geared up to vote, 非常愿意做他们的研究, 能参与其中真的很兴奋.”

Her biggest priority, she says, is to make sure they understand the options available to them. Many don’t realize that they can vote either in their home state or at school. 埃斯蒙德表示:“我们在游戏中没有任何利益. “We just want students to engage where they feel the most connected to the election and the community and the issues.”

Esmond and her team organize campus voter registration drives and provide information to help students register in Pennsylvania. They also meet with students individually to help them make sure their registration in their home state is up to date. “Some students do look at how their state usually goes—if it goes red or if it goes blue—and they make their decision based on that,她说。.

注册只是第一步. 许多学校的选民登记率很高, 但是他们的投票率不那么令人印象深刻, 埃斯蒙德说. “So, 公民教育的一部分是, OK, 你已经完成了第一部分, but you have to do part two or part one doesn’t even matter.”

Educating students on how to vote by mail is part of the puzzle, 太, 为在选举日安排繁忙的学生而设, 是运动员, or are involved in a lot of extracurriculars or co-curriculars.

Though Esmond’s office never endorses a candidate or suggests that students register for any particular party, they work to educate students on how to research the issues and the candidates and engage with the topics. Sometimes that involves bringing people from nonpartisan organizations like the League of Women Voters to campus for panel discussions and information sessions. “That way, students can walk into the polling booth feeling very prepared.”

校园学生团体也发挥着积极的作用. “如果我们有一个焦点, 只是为了让学生登记投票,23岁的阿曼达·布拉茨说, 谁领导着推荐全球十大博彩公司排行榜民主党俱乐部.

以及组织会议活动, Blatz and her fellow members make posters and host debate watch parties. 就在中期选举之前, they invited Representative Mary Gay Scanlon to visit campus to talk about issues on the ballot, 她为什么要跑, 以及她的政治生涯是什么样的.

For 教师, elections offer teaching opportunities on many levels. 玛丽莎·金, 政治学教授, talks to her students about the history of voting rights and emphasizes that this is a right that not everyone had until relatively recently in the U.S. She also gives them statistics about close elections where small numbers of voters have made a difference.

Recognizing the extra hoops students who want to stay registered in their hometown must go through, Golden even provides stamps for them to return their mail-in ballots.

“Political science research pretty consistently shows the lower the barriers to voting, 投票率越高,戈尔登说。, 这些障碍可以简单到10分钟的步行, 一个下雨天或者需要一张邮票.”

Running the van shuttle is just one more way to make students feel supported, 说埃斯蒙德, who typically spends most of the day with colleagues at a table set up outside Goodhart, answering last-minute questions and helping students double check that their voter registration went through.

学院指定的投票地点很近, 不到半英里, 但是很多学生坐面包车, 埃斯蒙德说, because it’s fun to vote with their friends and have a ride. “A lot of people walk back once they see how close it is,她说。, “但如果有人赶时间的话, 能载他们一程真好.”

People sometimes ask why the College doesn’t have its own polling place on campus, 说埃斯蒙德. “And I’ve always said it’s because ours is so convenient,她说。. “There are never lines and students move through quickly. 而且，能见到其他选民也很好. I just always think it’s good to get off campus and see how things work elsewhere.”

对于Blatz, who led the voter registration drive at her high school in Ohio and has worked on voter outreach for local campaigns, 鼓励年轻人投票就是赋予权力.

“So many people believe they are powerless and don’t have ability to promote change. But the past few elections have highlighted that every vote matters and every vote is a way to change the world that we live in.——阿曼达·布拉茨，23岁