Carly Zubrzycki is a junior at the University of Rochester, and this year, you’d often see her sitting at a table in Wilson Commons, surrounded by the commotion of other students.
As Chair of the Committee for Political Engagement (CPE) on campus, she’s been leading initiatives to get students registered to vote.
“We’ve had 30-plus tabling events,” Zubrzycki said in an interview.
With the 2024 presidential election coming up, non-partisan civic engagement organizations on college campuses have been working to reach young people, many of whom are first time voters. These student-led groups are empowering their peers to be politically active and informed, which is no easy feat for an age group with lower-than-average turnout in elections.
As election day nears, the focus shifts to getting students to cast their vote.
“We’re having stroll to the polls,” Zubrzycki said. “We’re walking people to voting.”
Zubrzycki says CPE's message is all about the value of voting.
“The biggest thing is focusing on policies rather than candidates,” Zubrzycki said, “A common misconception is people are like, oh, like, I don't like XYZ candidate, but we try to focus on if you agree with most of their policies, it does have a real impact.”
Since its founding in 2016, CPE has grown to be a vital part of the political environment on campus. Zubrzycki estimates that over 500 students have registered to vote through their engagement efforts this semester.
In Monroe County, only 31% of eligible 18-year-olds are registered to vote. This is a stark contrast to the 77% of registered voters in the 45+ age demographic.
For students who live out of state, the process of registering to vote and voting by absentee ballot can be intimidating.
Zubrzycki’s group has been helping with that too and she argues that it's so important for students to be the ones empowering their peers.
“It's one thing to have an adult tell you to go vote, but it’s different when it’s coming from a peer.”
Over at Rochester Institute of Technology, political engagement group Voter Advocacy Network, or VAN, has similar goals.
Onvida Serixay, a member of VAN, says the organization focuses on voter education and information surrounding the election.
“We help to make sure people are well informed about voter advocacy and the likes,” she said in a recent interview.
Like CPE, VAN holds regular tabling events to inform students about the elections and the candidates. They provide services such as notarization for out of state students when registering to vote.
But VAN also works with the National Technical Institute of the Deaf (NTID) to affect a wider range of students.
Serixay emphasized the importance of having these organizations like VAN.
“As the world changes, so do all of our students, and they feel the need to vote, because even if it's one single vote that does make a difference in some counties and some states.”