An estimated 745 Lafayette students applied to register to vote in Pennsylvania, according to voter registration data compiled by Lafayette Votes. The organization observed higher student engagement than in previous years.
“For the first time, people were coming up to us,” said Chelsea Morrese, who has been the director of Lafayette’s Landis Center for Community Engagement since 2022. “We weren’t flagging students down or dragging them over to the tables.”
According to Morrese, roughly 495 of the registrations came through an online portal, in partnership with the national database All-In To Vote.
Caroline Lee, a professor of anthropology and sociology and a member of the Lafayette Votes leadership team, reported that this online portal is a new addition to Lafayette Votes’ processes.
“With that portal, we could follow up in case students hadn’t completed their registration, which often happens if they need to figure out their social security number, for example,” Lee wrote in an email.
Morrese reported that Lafayette Votes’ National Voter Registration drive, which took place in the Farinon College Center and Skillman Library on Sept. 17, collected roughly 230 registrations.
Chris Byrnes ‘26, a co-director of Lafayette Votes, called the voter drive “the most successful initiative we’ve had.”
Byrnes noted that social media posts and yard signs also had a meaningful effect on student voter registration rates.
“It’s so surreal to see voter engagement,” he said.
Lafayette Votes also worked with the broader Easton area to mobilize voter registration efforts, including partnering with organizations such as the Historic Easton Cemetery, Gracedale Nursing and the Boys and Girls Club of Easton.
“We made intentional partnerships and arrangements with organizations in the downtown Easton area,” Morrese said. “We are in the South Side and also in the West Ward to help amplify efforts.”
In the city of Easton, 18,108 people were registered to vote according to Northampton County data obtained by The Lafayette. Easton’s most recent official population measurement was 28,127 in the 2020 census, with a United States Census Bureau estimate of 29,538 residents as of July 2023.
“Voter registration numbers will be finalized by the end of the month,” Becky Bartlett, the public information officer for the county, wrote in an email.
In 2020, 17,698 people were registered to vote in Easton.
According to Northampton County voter data, 2,582 people are presently registered to vote in Easton’s 3rd Ward 3rd District, the zone in which Lafayette College is located.
In the district, 1,582 people registered as Democrats, 344 people registered as Republicans and 631 people registered under “Other,” a term that includes independents. The 2,582 registrants mark a 35% increase from the number of registered voters for the 2020 election, when 1,903 people were registered to vote.
Morrese and Lee noted that the work from Lafayette Votes will not end with voter registration.
“Now at Laf Votes our efforts really turn to education: helping students learn about all of the candidates up for election, some very important down-ballot races, and how the election may affect the issues they care about,” Lee wrote.
According to Morrese, Lafayette Votes will have an information table on Election Day that will provide logistics on where to vote on campus and information about each candidate so students can make “last-minute decisions” about who they are voting for.
There will also be shuttles provided to transport students with mobility issues to and from Kirby Sports Center, where voting will take place.
“Eligible students need to actually get out and vote and get their friends to vote as well!” Lee wrote. “Research has shown that making voting fun and social is a great way to encourage people to vote.”
Editor’s note: The print version of this article incorrectly states that in 2020, 17,698 people were registered to vote in Northampton County. The statistic is related solely to the city of Easton, not the entire county. The detail was corrected in the online version of the article prior to publication.
