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s voting deadlines approach for the 2024 United States general elections, canvassing organizations have appeared across Syracuse University’s campus, urging students to make their way to the polls.
Leaders across multiple local political organizations — such as SU’s Connect 315 club and local chapters of League of Women Voters and New York Public Interest Research Group — said they hope to foster community involvement and local political engagement by providing voting resources to students.
Many of these clubs have recently ramped up their on-campus presence by setting up tabling events, passing out information and helping students register to vote.
The Daily Orange spoke with some of these organizations to learn more about their strategies to increase voter turnout.
Connect 315
Students Tommy DaSilva, Anna Mirer, Leah Farrell and Conor Murphy formed Connect 315 in fall 2023 to help bridge the gap between the university community and the surrounding city of Syracuse, DaSilva said.
The four students originally hatched the idea in their freshman year while taking PST 101: An Introduction to the Analysis of Public Policy, DaSilva said. They were inspired after hearing a guest lecture from the Director of the East Adams Neighborhood Redevelopment Sarah Walton, who discussed ways to encourage community involvement.
Connect 315 became a registered student organization in spring 2024 and started initiatives in support of the ongoing Interstate 81 viaduct removal project. Now, the club is prioritizing student voter registration, which wasn’t part of its original mission.
“Voting is one of the best ways to have your voice heard,” DaSilva, the club’s current vice president, said. “(It’s) an important part of being involved in your community and being an engaged citizen.”
Connect 315 partnered with LWV, NYPIRG and Unite New York to hold a voter registration drive on Sept. 20 during SU’s football game against Stanford. Student volunteers at the drive helped educate game attendees on voting requirements and encouraged them to register as they passed by.
DaSilva said the drive was meant to stress the importance of student involvement in both the presidential and local elections. The drive was purposely held the week of National Voters Registration Day on Sept. 16.
“Especially as college students, we’re here almost longer than we are actually at our home states and home jurisdictions,” DaSilva said. “We should be acknowledging the local issues going on in this community and the local change-makers who can be fixing those issues.”
League of Women Voters
LWV, which focuses on voter education and advocacy for local issues, encourages community members to vote in every election, not just national ones, said Joan Durant, director of voter services.
As part of its voter initiative, LWV goes to local college campuses like SU and Onondaga Community College for tabling events to provide voter registration information. The group helps both students planning to vote locally and those sending absentee ballots.
LWV also prioritizes high school outreach to educate students on how voting works before they become eligible, Durant said. She said part of LWV’s outreach includes presentations at local schools where volunteers can talk with students and address any concerns they have.
Durant said there are many factors that contribute to whether people vote. She highlighted how many community members are reluctant because they think their vote won’t impact the results.
“I think it’s important that people get out to vote every year,” Durant said. “I hear too many times that I vote every four years. Well, yeah, this is an important election. Every election is important. Our local elections control what happens to us on a day-to-day basis.”
New York Public Interest Research Group
NYPIRG is a nonprofit, research and public education organization founded in 1976. Along with voter registration efforts, NYPIRG campaigns for affordable healthcare, environmental initiatives and widespread access to higher education, especially for low-income students.
One of the organization’s goals is to recruit student volunteers from SU as NYPIRG interns and teach them how to be political activists, said Reece Holt, project coordinator for SU and SUNY ESF.
Every week, NYPIRG organizes a group of volunteers to talk to students about voting on campus; this includes approaching students directly, setting up tables with voting resources or going around to different SU classes to give brief presentations. The organization aims to influence community members by maintaining a physical presence on campus, Holt said.
In addition to the Sept. 20 voter registration drive, NYPIRG hosted a voter registration movie night, where the price of admission was a completed voter registration form. They also hosted “Drag Out The Vote,” a drag show with the same admission process.
“Having students help us with ideas and planning, you get really creative with ways to get people civically engaged,” Holt said.
Student volunteers are better equipped to connect and relate to the campus community, Holt said. He said many students are exhausted from the academic pressures they face in school, so voting becomes less of a priority.
Holt said he’s talked with plenty of students who feel discouraged about the upcoming election, especially with the amount of political violence they see through social media. But as canvassers continue to build connections with students and explain how to vote and why it’s important, they become much more receptive, Holt said.
NYPIRG measures its canvassing success by comparing how many students they contact with how many they help register. Canvassers’ assessment of their interactions with students — whether they responded positively — is also taken into account.
In the 2022 general election, the national youth voter turnout was around 20% for New York state. Holt said that, if they can get that number up even by one or two percentage points, it would be a success in his eyes.
“I want to see more students use their voice,” Holt said. “A vote cast is a voice amplified. You are lending who you are to an issue you care about by voting (for) a candidate that aligns with those issues as well.”
Courtesies from canvassing events from Connect 315, League of Women Voters and NYPIRG
Published on October 31, 2024 at 1:10 am
Contact Kate: kjacks19@syr.edu
