Anticipating the U.S. midterm elections set to occur this November, the Andover Political Union (APU) has launched “First Votes,” an initiative to incentivize domestic students to participate in the voting process. Spearheaded by APU Board Member Eloise Malle ’27, the project encompasses a specialized website that awards students points for their residential cluster each time they register to vote, or if they join their home state’s voter registration email list. The “First Votes” competition concludes on October 26.
Malle, who oversaw “First Votes” in its formative stages and created the website, noted her intentions behind organizing the project.
“In France, there’s a huge emphasis on being engaged with your democratic duty and to register to vote. I came to Andover in 2024 during the presidential election. [My dormmates] were all watching the election together, and I was like, ‘Are you guys registered?’ and everyone’s like, ‘Oh, I forgot that I could do that this year.’ It’s important as part of our education that we understand our responsibilities to the broader American society. We have this Andover bubble, and it can often be very limiting because we do have responsibilities beyond the immediate community,” said Malle.
Though only individuals over the age of 18 can vote in the U.S., “First Votes” allows students of all ages at Andover to participate in the cluster competition. Malle explained that students below 18 can still register to vote or sign up for the state’s email list.
Malle continued, “The biggest challenge is misinformation right now. Lots of students see the initiative, and they’re like, ‘I’m not 18, so this isn’t relevant to me.’ But most of [the states in the U.S.] actually allow for pre-registration starting at 16. If your state doesn’t technically allow you to register, you can register to an email list. By doing so, you’ll get a reminder in two years’ time to register. We’ve bypassed that [age limit] and made it so that all American students have a way of participating.”
Aaron Bai ’27, Co-President of APU, highlighted the disparity in the number of young adults registered to vote compared to that of older citizens. He explained that to change the current political dynamic in the United States, young people need to take steps towards voting early and often.
“There’s an interesting statistic [from The Civics Center] that for the age group of 18 to 20 years old, the [number of] people who have registered to vote is around 40%. But for people above the age of 65, it’s closer to 80%. That’s a huge difference between how young people and older generations participate in politics. There’s been a lot of complaints that politics is being run by very old people and that we’re seeing that a lot of officials are of large age. A very important step in getting more youthful representation in politics is that we as young people need to participate more,” said Bai.
Vivian Plouffe ’27 shared that she registered for “First Votes” because the competition allowed her to represent her cluster while raising awareness for an important cause.
“I was inspired to participate because the competition is by cluster, and we’re able to come together as a community about something that is genuinely important. [‘First Votes’] made me reevaluate and remember how close we are to voting and how important it is to get student bodies excited about it. Because we have our whole lives ahead of us, the decisions that are made now will really impact us. Young people are generally more forward-thinking, so it’s important to get those voices into the conversation,” said Plouffe.
Georgina Grant ’27 observed that consuming news on social media could discourage teenagers from doing research and taking action during elections. She praised “First Votes” as an initiative that motivated students to participate in the democratic process.
“A common thing that we’re seeing in our political climate these days is the concept that a lot of 18-year-olds aren’t voting, despite having opinions on political topics that are related to the candidates representing them. Because teenagers get more caught up in taking news from social media, it’s harder to actually do your research and to choose a candidate to vote for in whatever election it may be. It was really amazing to have ‘First Votes’ to learn about the importance of that…since it has a lot of [educational] information about the issue,” said Grant.
Abigail Nager ’27, a registered voter through “First Votes,” is a firm believer in voting and expressed her opinions on the importance of having voices heard.
“I’ve always believed that voting is a civic duty and something that every citizen in the United States should do and be involved with. As a young person, you can demonstrate, change, or push for action that you hope will be a part of the future of the United States that you are a citizen of, ” said Nager.
Nager continued, “I’m really excited to see how many students continue to register through ‘First Votes,’ and how many students can come to see that, through ‘First Votes,’ voting is something that should be expected as a civic duty of every citizen.”
Editor’s Note: Felix Bret is a Co-President of APU and a News Editor for The Phillipian. Bret was not involved in the writing and editorial process of this article.
