Bates athletics is teaming up with the Harward Center and its Bates Votes initiative to give all Bobcat student-athletes, as well as the entire Bates student body, the tools they need to successfully register and vote in the upcoming 2020 election.

"I'm so impressed by our student-athletes' initiative to use their voices and exercise their right to vote, and we want to do everything we can to support them in this effort," said Senior Associate Athletic Director Celine Cunningham. "And of course on the competitive side, we want to have the best student-athlete participation in the NESCAC."

Bates Votes is a nonpartisan initiative, coordinated through the Harward Center. The program engages voting captains to help all eligible students register to vote and cast their ballot in ways that feel informed and safe for them, and to provide students with the spaces they need to discuss their questions and concerns about voting. Bates athletics teams have a voting captain to serve as a go-to-resource for their team to navigate voting.

"I think it's important for my classmates and me to register and vote because we are given this amazing power to use our voice, and not taking advantage of it means not using the freedoms we've been given to their fullest extent," said Amelia Mountford, a junior and voting captain on the field hockey team. "I was motivated to help with the initiative because a lot of my friends and teammates had told me the voting process was very confusing and frustrating to them, so I wanted to be able to give them the resources to help figure out their voting plan."

"I was motivated to be a voting captain by the passion of my classmates," shared Cam Riley, a sophomore on the men's basketball team. "Being able to lead students to voice their ideas through voting in the upcoming elections was an opportunity I wasn't willing to pass up."

Miles Nabritt, a senior on the track and field team, has been working with the Harward Center since his sophomore year at Bates. After his first meeting with Peggy Rotundo, the Director of Strategic and Policy Initiatives, he realized Bates had a lot of work to do on student turnout in general elections.

Nabritt learned that just 43.5% of the Bates community voted during the 2016 election which was up from 41.7% in 2012. He compared Bates' voting percentage to other collegiate institutions and found in 2012, Bates College had a -5.2% differential in comparison to other institutions then later had a -6.9% differential in 2016.

Through Bates Votes, Nabritt hopes to open the lines of communication about voting. "I think one of the biggest problems when it comes to voting is communication or lack thereof. You want as many people as possible to be aware of the candidates' platforms and have a clear sense as to who they are voting for. This year I really hope that the channels of communications are open and sustainable."

Bates and all NESCAC institutions have partnered with the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge for a NESCAC Votes initiative. The NESCAC Votes initiative seeks to inform and increase civic engagement and share non-partisan voter registration tools and resources in advance of Election Day on Nov. 3. 

The NESCAC athletic directors have committed to designate November 3 as a day off from athletic activity to support students in their ability to vote on Election Day and to be involved in the democratic process.