November 5 is Election Day this year. In Pennsylvania, this day is particularly important as Pennsylvania is a swing state, historically having gone either Democratic or Republican. Like in other swing states, votes in Pennsylvania are instrumental in determining next president.
The 2024 election will be the first national election for many students in the Bi-Co, and for some, their first time ever voting. As the college—aged vote holds a lot of sway, Bi-Co voters’ choices are important in considering the outcome of the upcoming election.
The Bryn Mawr College Democrats are a key organization in for engaging Bi-Co voters. Haverford College Democrats did not respond to the Bi-Co News for comment, but has been holding events and offering volunteer opportunities for students throughout the semester. Neither of the Bi-Co Colleges has an active Republican student group.
In light of the upcoming election, the Bryn Mawr Democrats have helped to prepare students and other eligible voters to make sure they’re able to vote. They have been active throughout the semester registering people to vote and sending letters about the election. “As far as impact goes, we’ve registered about 50 voters this cycle on campus, and we’ve also written 300 letters to voters in Pennsylvania and Nevada,” says current Bryn Mawr Democrats president Zoe Woodruff ‘25. “We also have a phone bank coming up where we’re going to be making calls…that’s a really important way to reach voters that might not feel comfortable answering the door.”
Woodruff expressed positivity about a majority of the campus all of the campus voting for the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris. “We’re pretty confident that we don’t have to do a lot of dissuading voters at Bryn Mawr from voting for Donald Trump. I don’t think that anyone on campus is planning on doing that.” Referring back to the 2020 election, Woodruff emphasized similarities between the 2020 election and the current one: “Pennsylvania is the most important state to win this election, so college students could make up the margin that Joe Biden won by in 2020. If every college student went out to vote in Pennsylvania…[it] would mean that Kamala Harris would win the election.”
With the Pennsylvania’s polls being incredibly close, the organization still encourages students to vote. “It’s a must win state and we’re really anxious about the polling right now- that’s pretty much 50/50,” Woodruff said. “A lot of people have a lot of different feelings about the candidates in this race and their policies, and there’s a time and place for strategic voting, but that time and place isn’t Pennsylvania in this election cycle.”
As a politically active organization, Bryn Mawr College Democrats have promised to help students with anything they need as first-time voters. “We’ve already had people reach out with questions & concerns and that’s our job to answer those questions and help people feel like they really understand their role in the election and what their role means for them specifically and how they can get involved and make a difference,” says Woodruff.
Bryn Mawr Democrats ultimately encourage all students that are eligible to vote this upcoming November to do so, and to practice their right to make a change in America’s leadership.
Haverford Democrats has likewise been participating in a Vote Forward campaign, among others, getting students involved with letter-writing to encourage fellow Americans to vote.
As for those who are nervous for the election and its outcome, President Woodruff had some words of advice: “To anyone that feels anxious about the election and scared about the outcome, I would ask them to channel that anxiety and that nervousness towards action because there are concrete things we can do to help affect the outcome of the election.”
This article was reported by Angie Rivera and Jessica Schott-Rosenfield.
