As Carleton approaches Nov. 5, reminders of the upcoming presidential election are seemingly everywhere on campus. Carls across campus are getting involved with voting in numerous different ways, and organizations such as the Center for Community and Civic Engagement (CCCE) and Carleton Democrats (CarlDems) are organizing events across campus in hopes of ensuring that voting is at the forefront of students’ minds.
College students are among some of the most impactful groups in the upcoming election. In 2020, college students voted in record-breaking numbers compared to past elections, with 60% of eligible college students voting. These numbers are 14% higher than in 2016. Overall, college campuses have seen a 97% in students voting on campus. Carleton has had similarly impressive voting statistics, with 87% of students voting in the 2020 election. However, CarlDems and the CCCE are aiming to further increase these numbers in the 2024 election.
On the CCCE website, there are lengthy instructions about how to vote, whether you are voting in Minnesota or completing a mail-in ballot. The organization has also promoted events across campus related to voting.
On Monday, Oct. 28th, librarians from both St. Olaf and Carleton hosted a talk at the Northfield Public Library entitled “Know Before You Vote” that discussed how to seek reliable information about the election and how students can remove themselves from the bubble that social media can form.
On Wednesday, Oct. 30th, Carleton Political Science professors Barbara Allen, Ryan Dawkins, Greg Marfleet and American Studies professor Christopher Elias hosted a “Let’s Talk Election ’24” panel to answer students’ questions about the election.
Finally, on Friday, Nov. 1st, Carleton’s convocation speaker, Abby Kiesa, will address the importance of youth voting. Kiesa is the director of CIRCLE, Tuft University’s center for civic learning and engagement.
CarlDems is another organization that has been ramping up their events in the final week. When asked about the goals of CarlDems, its president, Gabriel Kaplan ’25, emphasized how “[i]n CarlDems, we’re focused on squeezing the last 100 to 150 votes out of Carleton. Most eligible students vote without being reminded, which allows us to focus on the 10% who do not in presidential years. We’ve door-knocked every dorm at least twice and are now ‘friend banking’ where people focus on getting those they know to vote. That effort has, so far, engaged 103 volunteers and reached 731. By election day, I’m hoping to reach 1200 through that so we can help VP Harris, Rep. Craig and Rep. Pursell win.”
On Oct. 29th, CarlDems hosted phone banking focused on calling unregistered and undecided voters in Florida to encourage their participation in the presidential election. Their social media page described phone banking as “an effective and easy way to reach undecided voters and motivate Democrats to go to the polls through quick conversation”.
Another event that CarlDems hosted in the past few weeks was their ”Early Voting Pop Up,” a voting booth pop-up event in Anderson Atrium on October 10th where students could both register to vote and vote in the state of Minnesota.
Maxwell Serota ’25, who helped organize the Anderson Atrium Early Voting, described how “[w]e hear a lot of discourse about how college students don’t vote and allegedly don’t care about politics. But talking with just about anyone at Carleton shows that that just isn’t true; students here, like students across the country, do care about the outcome of this election and they are motivated to get involved and make sure their voice is heard. We had 237 people, most of whom were students, vote early at the pop-up which exceeded our expectations and demonstrates that college students do vote when voting is made accessible, just like it should be.” One of the 237 voters, Natalie Tatar ’26, expressed how “[i]t was so exciting to vote in such an important election.”
By offering support to students about how to get involved as well as expanding knowledge about elections and the United States government in general, Carleton is fostering a more well-rounded community that does their civic duty and votes.