This election has been hailed as a modern defining moment in American moments. Everyone everywhere is seemingly pulling out all the stops in order to increase voter turnout and Hamilton is no exception. The bipartisan organization, HamVotes, has had to to revise and re-conceptualize their strategies, however, during the pandemic. According to Gianni Hill ’21, who is on the HamVotes E-Board, “COVID has definitely challenged us to get more creative, but we are still finding ways to engage the student body. Social media has been a huge help during all of this!”

This semester, the first order of business for HamVotes was the door campaign. The initiative was proposed by Hill, as a manner of reaching the entire student body on campus, all 1,114 dorm rooms. HamVotes thought of it “might be a way to reach students physically and personally in a manner that was safe and effective” aside from social media, according to Tatum Barclay. Before settling on the door hanger and a QR code linked to their website, the campaign went through different iterations. While a difficult task, the volunteers on the G-Board met for over two weekends to prepare and distribute the bags and the RA’s provided assistance and the task was finished with the “hope that these inspired students to check out our website and all of the great resources it provides.”

Currently, HamVotes is focused on helping voter registration, education, and ballot access. Tabling for HamVotes is a joint project with the Hamilton College Republicans, Democrats, and Bridge outside of the COVID Testing site, where all students are required to visit twice a week. They also have a locked ballot box in the Sadove receptions area for students to place their absentee ballot. Once a week, collected ballots are delivered to the Oneida County Board of Elections, ensuring safe travel of votes for the students registered here, or to the mail center for those in other states. HamVotes, in partnership with Student Activities, is also working with the mail center to pay for postage for both absentee ballot request forms and absentee ballots. Students only need to inform the workers that they are mailing in election related items. Another partnership is with SAAC and NESCAC Athletics All In To Vote Challenge, which asks for a pledge to vote. On early voting days (Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, time TBD) and election day itself (Nov. 3 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.), jitneys will be provided for students to vote in person if they are registered in the area. While all their normal procedures have been reformulated during COVID, another impressing revision is their strategy when it comes to involving first years. Rather than tabling at matriculation, they create a module for them to look over during quarantine.

Voting is a civic responsibility, which HamVotes is dedicated to enabling which is why students should interact with them if “they have any question related to voting or the election process.” Tatum Barclay discussed how their nonpartisan status means that they “will help any and all students and provide information which anyone can use to register and vote wherever they feel most connected to the politics and the policies.” Gianni Hill echoes this sentiment, saying “HamVotes does not tell you where to vote or who to vote for. We are here to simply give students the necessary information to be civically engaged in whatever way makes the most sense for them.” If anyone has any questions, feel free to email them at

[email protected]

visit their website at

https://students.hamilton.edu/hamvotes/home.