Young people are leading efforts to increase voter turnout among their peers

On a fall Wednesday night, young people eagerly lined up to get into MGM Music Hall at Fenway for Gracie Abrams’ new “Secret of Us” tour. As excited fans debated which song Abrams would open the concert with, three volunteers wearing Headcount shirts approached the line with a QR code.

Headcount is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that seeks to equip voters with the tools and knowledge they need to cast their ballots. They do this by partnering with artists like Abrams, Sabrina Carpenter and Remi Wolf. At the shows, volunteers give away merchandise and hand out pins to encourage people to double-check their registration.

“People might not think about politics when they go to see their favorite artists perform, but seeing us at the table is a unique way to get those people involved in politics,” said Emily Bresnahan, regional coordinator for New England Headcount.

Jaya Gupta, 18, was waiting in line outside MGM Music Hall for the Gracie Abrams concert when she heard about Headcount. Although the Massachusetts native has her father as a resource for navigating first-time voting, she says having an organization like Headcount is beneficial for other young voters.

“I think organizations like Headcount make it easier for people to start the voting process by giving them easy access to voter information,” Gupta said.

Concerts are not the only places where young people encourage each other to vote; university campuses are also hotspots.

With more than 30 institutions of higher education within the city limits, several Boston colleges and universities already have nonpartisan campus-wide initiatives to ensure that their students are equipped to engage in their civic responsibility.

In downtown Boston, Suffolk University has Suffolk Votes, a collaboration of staff, faculty and students designed to make the voting process easier by providing voter registration forms, reminding students to register to vote and notifying- and about upcoming deadlines.

Rachael Cobb, associate professor of political science and legal studies at Suffolk University, said students really want to participate in the democratic process, but they need guidance.

“For many, it’s their first time voting and we’re all scared when it’s our first time doing anything,” Cobb said, “So we as a community and a society have to do everything we can to support them.”

A few miles down the road, Northeastern University and its Northeastern Votes coalition have been hard at work promoting voter registration, education and turnout.

Hilary Sullivan, director of community service and civic engagement at Northeastern University, said that before the coalition was created, it was the university’s student government that mobilized during elections to increase participation. However, Sullivan says the goal was to institutionalize these practices to ensure that every time a student becomes eligible to vote, they have the resources that were available to them.

“This year, we’ve definitely been doing a lot because it’s a big presidential election,” Sullivan said, “But we’re really trying to make sure students vote in city and state elections as well.”

Youth voter involvement has increased in recent years.

Tufts University has been studying these trends since 2012. According to them
National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagementstudent voter turnout increased during the last presidential election, reaching an unprecedented 66%, surpassing 52% in 2016.

Jen McAndrew, senior director of communications and planning at Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, said the university decided to focus on institutions of higher education because they play a vital role in increasing the civic engagement of young people.

“One of the core tenets of American higher education is the civic purpose of preparing Americans for robust civic life,” McAndrew said, “So in this study we’re looking at these institutions that have historically been places of learning and civic development to understand. trends among young voters.”

Across the Charles River in Cambridge, Julia High and Jordan Schwartz co-host the Harvard Votes Challenge.

“Our biggest goal is to increase visibility and accessibility,” Schwartz said. “Visibility in that we want everyone to know that we exist and to know that we have the resources for them and accessibility to actually have those resources ready for them so that the voting process — which is not always easy as a student — can be as it’s easy.”

While these initiatives can have a positive impact on campus voter registration, peer-to-peer initiatives have proven to be the most effective, school officials say.

“At Suffolk, we engage students socially around voting and encourage them to vote because their friends are voting,” Cobb said, “and so it becomes part of the culture of our university that we are a voting university.”

Similarly, at Northeastern University and Harvard University, most of their programming is built around student-led events to engage fellow students.

Matias Gonzalez, a student leader at Northeastern University, emphasized the importance of student-led conversations.

“It can seem quite daunting to get help from your teachers, but when you’re talking to a colleague, it can just be a normal conversation, I know it’s hard, but let’s talk about some resources,” he said.

All of these efforts can increase registration rates, but they don’t always translate into votes being cast, especially among first-time voters.

Despite historic turnout in the 2020 presidential election, overall voter turnout in the 2022 midterm race has dropped to
31%, lower than in 2018.

Absentee voting, students say, can be especially challenging.

“Each state has different rules, which makes it confusing. They have different rules about early voting and voting by mail. And so it’s not the same process for every student,” said Rachael Cobb.

Julia High, a student at Harvard College, said that despite being a co-chair for Harvard Votes, she had trouble getting on the Florida ballot in the upcoming election.

“I requested my ballot online but my mailing address didn’t show up,” High said, “I had to call my local elections office and they didn’t know the answer.”

High had to call a second time to figure out what was wrong with the ballot. That process, she says, would prevent some of her colleagues from casting their ballots.

Schwartz experienced a different challenge with his home state of Ohio. He requested a ballot last year but never received one despite applying weeks in advance.

“This fall, we’ve tried to encourage as many people as possible to request their absentee ballots as early as possible so you can check it, track it, and if there’s a problem, in mid-October, you can solve it by calling your election office,” he said.

Savanna Ruzzano, a first-year student and Northeastern Votes ambassador at Northeastern University, noted that the ambassadors’ presence on campus helped her peers navigate the often complicated process.

“We can help you get stamps, envelopes, mail anything, print forms,” ​​Ruzzano said, “We’re just trying to make it easier so students don’t get frustrated and drop out.”

Despite the challenges, most student leaders remain optimistic and hope their efforts increase voting access for their peers.

“Voting matters,” said Matias Gonzalez, who votes by mail in Arizona.

“This election is not just about the big ticket. It’s not all about the president,” he said, “Look at your ballot, do some research; there could be other important issues at play.”

Produced with support from
The Association of Public Media Journalists Editorial Body funded by
Corporation for Public Broadcastinga private corporation funded by the American people.