Swarthmore's Commitment to Voting

Swarthmore College is committed to increasing student participation in our democracy through voter registration and voting in primary and general elections. College students get to choose where they register and vote — either in their permanent home state or at their college location. The College strives to empower students with the information they need to register and vote, regardless of where that may happen.

President Valerie Smith believes in government by all the people. She appreciates the power of the vote as an expression of one's individual voice within the democratic process. In February 2018, President Smith convened the Get Out the Vote (GOTV) committee in response to a report from the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) which showed that while a majority of eligible Swarthmore students register to vote, voter turnount among Swatties was below or at the national average for colleges and universities. The primary aim of GOTV is to increase participation in the voting process regardless of political party affiliation.

GOTV Committee

The GOTV committee develops annual action plans to increase voter registration, turnout, voter education, and civic engagement. Our efforts are entirely nonpartisan. Here's our 2024-25 action plan.

2023-24 Committee MemberS

Ben Berger, Associate Professor of Political Science and Executive Director, Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility
Aqua Withers Carello '25
David Foreman, Director of Institutional Relations
Joshua Goldwyn, Assistant Professor of Mathematics & Statistics
Roy Greim, Associate Director of Web Communications
Danika Grieser '26
Clare Hyre, Associate Director of Sustainability
Emily Higgs Kopin, McCabe Library Digital Archivist
Yulia Koroviko, Associate Dean of Admissions
Jeremy Loomis, Head Women's Tennis Coach
Pamela Shropshire (Committee Chair), Special Assistant for Presidential Initiatives
Gigi Simeone, Health Sciences/Pre Law Advisor
Kristen Smith, Registrar
Rebecca Weintraub-Barth, Director of Student Activities

NSLVE

The Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE), part of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University, serves as a leading venue for research, resources, and advocacy on college student political learning and engagement in democratic practice. The Institute’s signature initiative is the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE), which offers colleges and universities an opportunity to learn their student registration and voting rates. NSLVE is the first and only study to objectively examine student and institution-level data on student voting and to share these data with participating campuses. Institutional participation is free and protective of student privacy.

According to NSLVE, Swarthmore's voting rates have been:
(Data is not available before 2012)