On Nov. 8, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 seats in the Senate were up for election, making this year’s election extremely important in all 50 states. HamVotes, Hamilton’s experts on all things voting, made extra efforts this year to get students to the polls. This year, the team is headed by Veronica Smolinski ’25, Alex Carducci ’24, Nevaeh Gutierrez ’25 and Peter Huleatt ’23.
Over the past few months, HamVotes has sponsored several events inspiring students to vote. During National Voter Education Week, HamVotes hosted five events ranging from handing out tote bags outside Sadove to serving Dippin’ Dots in McEwen. The events were both informative and fun.
Huleatt, HamVotes’s student event coordinator, believes that HamVotes’ transformation from a club to an extension of the Levitt Center has allowed the group to reach more students. “The biggest transition HamVotes has made this year is that now all of our roles are paid,” he said. “My first year on campus, HamVotes was a regular club, but now we’re working with the Levitt Center.”
Outside their major events, Huleatt noted how HamVotes attempts to get information to students on a smaller scale. “Our sticker now has a QR code on it that takes you to a Linktree to register to vote when you scan it,” he said. “On election day, the code will also take you to directions to the polling station. We put that QR code on door tags and tagged students’ doors as well.” To help students get to the polls, HamVotes also provided a Jitney on both Election Day and early voting day.
HamVotes is already making plans for how to get even more students to the polls for the upcoming presidential election. “Alongside the Levitt Center, we are already looking towards 2024 and being able to get as much of campus as possible to vote in the presidential election,” Huleatt said.
Lucinda Olson ’25 is from Arlington, Virginia, but was able to vote as a New York resident in this year’s election with the help of HamVotes. “I registered to vote in New York on matriculation day last year. Registering was very accessible and it took me only two minutes,” Olson noted. Olson further utilized the Jitney to get to the polling station. “It was really convenient and only took thirty minutes out of my day,” she said. HamVotes’s presence on campus was felt by Olson, who explained that “all [HamVotes’s] emails and signs were really helpful and informative.”
For students looking to get involved in HamVotes, Huleatt explained that the team will be looking to hire what they call “captains” every election year. HamVotes captains will come from all walks of campus life and support HamVotes’s mission of educating their peers about voting and making the process more accessible to them. Visit HamVotes’s Instagram page (@hamvotes) for more information.
