On Tuesday, troupes of young adults in plastic bead necklaces, felt cowboy hats in every color, heart-shaped novelty glasses and maybe even a tutu will walk between Dartmouth’s campus and Hanover High School to cast their ballots in New Hampshire.
Dartmouth Civics, a nonpartisan student-run group, organizes these walks to the polls with “flair” — a school tradition of dressing up in odd costumes — as part of its efforts to educate and register eligible student voters.
Founded in 2022, the club has registered hundreds of voters since its inception, beating out every other school in the Ivy League with a 79% voter turnout at the 2020 election. Co-President Will Nelson, a Dartmouth senior, said the Civics club registered more than 800 voters in 2024 alone.
Nelson and his team have worked to prepare students for same-day registration by making sure they know what to bring to the polls: a valid U.S. driver’s license or state identification card, along with a passport, naturalization papers, or birth certificate. Since the Supreme Court voted to uphold Republican-led House Bill 323 on Oct. 22, student ID cards will not be accepted as valid proof of identity.
To register in New Hampshire, prospective voters must prove their age, identity, domicile, and citizenship. Most Granite Staters who plan on registering to vote Tuesday need to provide proof of address as well as bring a license, passport or birth certificate. Dartmouth has provided proof of address for students who live on campus directly to the Hanover Town Clerk. If any of the 10% of students who do not live in campus housing need to register to vote, they should bring a utility bill or some other proof of domicile in Hanover.
Dartmouth’s high rate of civic engagement was one of the main reasons Nelson, a government and history major from North Dakota, chose to attend the college. Data from the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement indicated that Dartmouth students participated in the 2020 election at a rate 13% higher than the national average on college campuses.
