Ahead of the November election, the campaigns for Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are looking to utilize college students to get out the word to vote.
At New England College, first-year student and volunteer Sumana Anand said she believes in what Harris stands for. As a politics major, Anand is excited about getting involved with the voting process.
“Most of my values align more with the Democratic Party. I’m definitely more on the left side of the spectrum,” Anand said. “Because I’m super passionate about it, I decided to volunteer.”
The NewEnglander was unable to find a student from NEC that is working with the Trump campaign, but we spoke with Gretchen Meisner, a volunteer from Salem, N.H., who wants to see more students working to put Trump back in office.
“I have an overwhelming sense of urgency and belief in President Trump’s agenda and that he’s truly motivated from a place of goodness to help our country,” Meisner said.
One of the tasks that is done by volunteers at the Harris campaign is phone banking. Phone banking involves calling potential voters to discuss a candidate. Anand said in her role, the conversation can also gauge a person’s interest on candidates at the state level. Some of those candidates include Democratic nominee for Governor Joyce Craig and Congressional Candidate Maggie Goodlander.
According to Meisner, volunteer roles are based on skills and can involve driving people to the polls, sending out emails, or door knocking. Other area’s volunteers work in are office staffing, data entry, ground game, attending events, and Election Day.
When discussing the time that volunteering can take, Meisner said volunteering is based around a person’s schedule and shouldn’t distract from classes or homework.
Meisner emphasized the significance of the college student generation voting.
“I really believe that your generation is going to save our country,” Meisner said.
Anand echoed a similar sentiment in the importance of voting.
“A lot of people think your vote doesn’t matter but your vote does. It’s part of your civic duty. You have a say in who’s going to be running your country and that’s super important. So go out there and vote,” Anand said.
For more information about volunteering for either campaign and how to get involved, contact Nathan Shrader at nshrader@nec.edu.
