Involving Young Voters in the 2024 Election

For the 40.8 million members of Gen Z eligible to vote in the upcoming election, there are plenty of ways to get involved at Marist and beyond.

Samples from Postcards to Swing States, an initiative that encourages citizens to vote in the upcoming election. Credit: Emma Gaecklein '26

There will be 40.8 million members of Gen Z eligible to vote in the upcoming election, according to the Tufts University Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

Of that 40.8 million, 8.3 million have aged into the electorate since the 2022 midterm election. For these young voters, however, staying informed and getting involved in this election can be overwhelming.

“It’s hard to navigate. There isn’t one way that people vote, and every state has its own set of rules, their own deadlines, their own process,” said Melissa Gaeke, director of the Marist College Center for Civic Engagement and Leadership and senior professional lecturer in political science. “We just want to help students know where to go.”

The CCEL helps students and faculty at Marist find and connect with community initiatives both on and off-campus. The center also works with Marist Votes, a student-led group on campus, whose goal is to share the importance of voting with the student body.

“Marist Votes has done tabling all around campus to help students with registration and absentee ballots,” said Sylvia Wysor ‘26, director of Marist Votes. 

“We’ve also held other events to talk about diversity, equity and inclusion in voting and have worked with schools like Vassar and Bard Colleges to figure out the best ways to make sure all of our students on campus have access to the polls.”

One easy way students can get involved, Wysor said, is writing for Postcards to Swing States, an initiative that encourages people around the country to vote in the upcoming election.

“If students don’t have much time, the postcard writing campaign can be done from their dorms,” she explained.

The initiative has sent over 65 million postcards to registered voters since 2020 and has seen a 1.2% increase in voter turnout. The postcards and addresses are provided by the campaign, and volunteers pay for postage. Another resource is guides.vote, where students can access more information on this year’s presidential candidates, including a breakdown of candidates’ policies, issue stances and more.

Though everyone is encouraged to visit the CCEL and Marist Votes, it can be difficult to reach students outside of the social science programs.

“Sometimes, students say, ‘Oh, that’s just for social work students, or it’s just for political science students,’ but it’s not. We’ve had graphic design, we’ve had biomedical or biochemistry, we’ve had economics. It can be any student,” said Gaeke. “At its core, it’s about making a difference in some way.”

Marist Votes will have tabling events outside the dining hall in the Murray Student Center every Tuesday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m, beginning Sep. 17. Information on voting and on-campus resources can be found at “Exercise Your Rights: Voting Information for Students” on the James A. Cannavino Library website, found under Special Topics Guides.