A Bryn Mawr College student is trying to turn high voter registration into actual votes cast on Election Day.
Maggie McLaughlin, a member of the class of 2029, founded Voter Engagement for Pennsylvania (VEPA) this fall. The club has already held canvassing and phone-banking events and plans a transportation drive to get students to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3, the Bi-College News first reported.
McLaughlin told the Bi-College News that student registration rates are high but turnout often falls short. She created VEPA to close that gap.
"People are worried about the future," McLaughlin said, "and want to have a hand in it. Volunteering and grassroots activism is one of the best ways they can do it."
McLaughlin spent the summer in what the Bi-College News described as a fellowship with Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, working on a project called Democracy Summer. The program trains young people in voter registration and political organizing, according to the Bi-College News. McLaughlin said the experience pushed her to bring those skills back to campus.
VEPA has partnered with Bryn Mawr's Office of Civic Engagement and Pennsylvania Democrats. The club has also coordinated with a Montgomery County elections office in Lower Merion, which McLaughlin described as eager to assist.
Vice president Annabelle Sinatra and treasurer Sarah Schlapp round out VEPA's executive board alongside McLaughlin.
The club's work will not end after the midterms. McLaughlin said she plans to continue pushing voter education and engagement in local politics beyond Nov. 3.
Polls across Montgomery County open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. Two mail-in ballot drop boxes serve Lower Merion around the clock until polls close: one at the District Court at 925 Montgomery Ave. in Narberth and another at Ludington Library at 5 S. Bryn Mawr Ave. in Bryn Mawr, according to Patch's Lower Merion election guide.
Students and residents can follow VEPA on Instagram at @vepa_bmc.
