As conversations about the upcoming presidential election build on campus, Middlebury students continue to register to vote and request absentee ballots from their home states across the country. Historically, Middlebury students have had a widespread interest in voting: During the previous presidential election, 98% of Middlebury students at the time were registered to vote, a 23% increase from the 2018 midterm elections.
Preparing for the upcoming 2024 presidential election, student organizations have worked to encourage students to remain as civically engaged as their predecessors. In particular, MiddVotes, a nonpartisan student organization dedicated to fostering student civic engagement, has been working diligently to aid students in registering to vote alongside supporting civic education on campus.
So far, MiddVotes has hosted bi-weekly voter registration drives outside dining halls on campus. Although the club does not count exact numbers of students they’ve helped register, they reported assisting an estimated 150 students since the start of this semester and an estimated 600 since 2021.
As voter registration deadlines approach, MiddVotes is shifting from registration aid towards assisting students in the actual process of voting. As many college students hail from out-of-state, MiddVotes plans to support them in requesting absentee ballots and voting itself.
For some students, registering to vote and requesting an absentee ballot is more complicated than they expected. Depending on individual state laws, deadlines for these processes and other policies may look very different.
Claudia Lopez ’26, a first-time voter registered in Texas, faced challenges with voter registration and the process of requesting an absentee ballot. Texas does not offer online voter registration, and Lopez is currently studying abroad, meaning the registration process was delayed until she was able to physically return to Texas.
Lopez then requested her absentee ballot online from abroad. “It’s a bit tedious since there is a lot of printing and mailing involved, [which] is not free where I’m studying abroad,” she said.
Despite these difficulties, Lopez told The Campus she believes in the importance of her vote regardless of the obstacles.
“It’s important for me to vote because I think Texas has a good fair amount of voters from both Republican and Democratic parties which could make or break the election,” Lopez said.
Some students from states whose predicted electoral outcomes lean more firmly towards a particular political party than Vermont are choosing to vote in Vermont instead of in their home state. For this years’ national election, James Cummings ’25, who hails from Jackson, Wyo., has decided to cast his vote in Vermont.
“I come from a state where the election is even more skewed than here, so my vote won’t really matter either way, except maybe in local elections. And I think it will be a fun experience to vote in person as opposed to by mail,” Cummings said.
Despite varied voting processes, students shared a common desire to remain politically curious, something Daniza Tazabekova ’26, president of MiddVotes, hopes to channel. While MiddVotes primarily assists students in their voting endeavors, Tazabekova said she plans to transform the organization and the broader definition of civic responsibility for Middlebury students beyond simply registering to vote and cast a ballot.
For many, civic responsibility entails voting in the presidential election every four years. However, Tazabekova believes that civic responsibility includes a wider range of actions.
“When I think of civics, I think of a common set of goals, morals, or values that we all share; that push us to be better people, whether that is in government, public policy, families, relationships, friendships, and communities,” Tazabekova said.
The hope to broaden what civic responsibility means has led Tazabekova to expand MiddVotes’ efforts into civic education. Throughout the previous and current semester, MiddVotes has taken more creative approaches to engage with students both locally and federally.
Most recently, in collaboration with the Center for Careers and Internships (CCI), MiddVotes hosted a speaker panel of Middlebury alumni who participated in the 2024 Democratic National Convention. MiddVotes also recently hosted watch parties for the presidential and vice presidential debates in Wilson Hall, which both saw dozens of students in attendance.
On the local front, MiddVotes encourages students to participate in town meetings, with members offering to drive students to Town Meeting Day in Middlebury. What Tazabekova described as a novelty to students from urban areas, town meetings are not only an opportunity for students to see how local legislation is established, but also to become aware of issues central to the local community.
MiddVotes will continue their bi-weekly voting registration drives and assistance with their absentee ballots until general electoral deadlines. Despite this new emphasis on diverse forms of civic engagement, Tazabekova continues to emphasize the importance in voting, mentioning that high voter registration rates do not necessarily equate to high voter turnout.
“Voting is a privilege. If you have the right to vote you should exercise that right to vote and MiddVotes is here to support you in that endeavor,” she said.
