The year 2024 has been a busy one for F&M Votes, a nonpartisan coalition of Franklin & Marshall students, faculty and staff engaged in voter registration, education and motivation activities.

Efforts to register students to vote in the 2024 general election began in spring semester, according to Brooke Proctor ’26, a government major and one of the F&M Votes student co-chairs.

“Last spring it was a lot of preliminary work,” Proctor said. “We worked with clubs and organizations and went to their meetings, and we also met with student-athletes and encouraged them to register their teams.”

Fall semester saw efforts ramp up even further. F&M Votes volunteers attended bagel breakfasts in the College Houses, participated in the Student Involvement Fair, and spent roughly 60 hours presenting information at a table in the Steinman College Center. 

Another major focus was visiting Connections seminars, which F&M students take during their first semester on campus.

“It’s an opportunity to sit down and give first-time voters an opportunity to register correctly, because we’re talking them through the process,” said Ben Fraley ’27, the other F&M votes student co-chair. 

After Pennsylvania’s Oct. 21 voter registration deadline, F&M Votes shifted their efforts to voter education and turnout. The group sponsored the Oct. 31 Common Hour, “Tipping Point State: The 2024 Election in Pennsylvania,” and held a competition to see which College House could turn out the most registered voters on Election Day. 

“It was really just putting a tally mark on a sheet of paper to say, ‘I’m from this College House, and I voted,’” Fraley said. “But I think it did very well, because people had an extra reason to vote.”

Though Proctor said it’s too early to have all the data from the 2024 election, in the past, the efforts of F&M Votes have resulted in above-average student registration and turnout. In 2022, 86.9% of eligible F&M students were registered to vote, and the campus received a Gold Seal from the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, indicating a voting rate between 40-49% in that year’s midterm elections. 

F&M Votes volunteers provided information to students and answered last-minute questions on Election Day. Photo by Deb Grove.

F&M students only had a short walk to their polling place on Election Day--students vote at the Lancaster Theological Seminary across the street from campus. Photo by Deb Grove.

Students could add a tally under their College House at the F&M Votes table on Election Day, as part of a competition to see which College House had the highest voter turnout. Photo by Deb Grove.

F&M Votes volunteers answered last-minute questions about voting on Election Day. Photo by Deb Grove.

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While the lack of high-profile elections in 2025 might make it difficult to generate excitement about voting, it also offers an opportunity for F&M Votes leaders to evaluate their efforts and plan for upcoming years. 

“We’ll focus more on strategic planning, and getting ahead of those bigger election seasons,” Proctor said. One of her goals for the political “off-season” is to improve coordination with departments across campus, like mail services. 

“Students are getting mail-in ballots and getting contacted by the Board of Elections,” Proctor said. “We haven’t worked with the mail room to figure out how to get students to show up and check that mail. So those are the kinds of things we’re going to be working on in the spring."

Fraley said his focus for the upcoming year is on building community. He hopes that hosting social events where volunteers can get to know the co-chairs and each other could increase engagement going forward. 

“I think it’s probably harder to get someone to sign up to volunteer if they don’t really know the person that’s emailing them,” he said.

Both Proctor and Fraley said that serving as student co-chairs has provided leadership experience, connection with the F&M community, and insight into potential career paths. 

“It introduced me to a new type of leadership,” Proctor said. “It’s something very unique and independent.”

Next semester, she hopes to participate in F&M in Harrisburg, a practicum that combines coursework with hands-on experience through an internship in the state capitol. 

“Right now I’m in a very exploratory phase, trying to get as much experience as I can,” Proctor said.

Fraley, a sophomore, hasn’t yet declared his major—though he intends to major in government—but is already thinking about next steps. He’s hoping to participate in Teach for America and is also interested in community organizing. 

“I care deeply about people and building power, and I love strategy,” Fraley said, “and community organizing is pretty much all those things combined.”