Penn Leads the Vote hosts Valentine’s Day event to boost voter registration before primary election

Penn Leads the Vote held a Valentine’s Day themed event on College Green to register students to vote ahead of the upcoming primary election. 

The "Love Your Vote" event on Feb. 14, which offered La Colombe coffee and treats along with election resources, was facilitated by several PLTV members who aided students in completing voter registration forms. Interim Penn President Larry Jameson was present on College Green, speaking with students and taking group photos. 

College first year and PLTV program manager Henry Li called the event a “big group effort.”

“The timing of Valentine’s was really good for us because the primaries start very soon, so we just wanted to be able to integrate a cute, fun holiday into something that is a responsibility of every American citizen,” he said.  

PLTV, established in 2004, works to increase voter and civic engagement on campus. As the Pennsylvania primary election in April approaches, the organization is aiming to register as many students as possible, with a goal of achieving 100% student voter registration by 2028. Through their events, PLTV hopes to make the voter registration process easier and more accessible for students. 

College senior and co-director of PLTV Sarah Alkhafaji noted that the entire registration process takes about ten minutes. 

“I think people tend to assume that it’s more complicated than it is,” Alkhafaji said.

Beyond volunteer roles, the organization offers internship and fellowship opportunities for students, both undergraduate and graduate, who want to play a role in civic engagement programming. 

College junior and PLTV co-director Alyssa Antonian, who helped facilitate the event, stressed the importance of voter participation in all elections, especially local ones. 

“We’d really like to see people show up for the primary election and get the message out that it’s not only the general in November that matters,” she said. 

Li agreed and emphasized the relevance of Pennsylvania being a swing state. 

“If you really want to make a difference, whether it’s because of your identity or some other reason, you should definitely go out and vote — especially because you’re in Pennsylvania where it’s not very one-sided,” he said. 

Apart from the Valentine’s Day event, PLTV organizes one or two larger events per semester, such as on National Voter Registration Day and Election Day. The organization utilizes various methods such as tabling and social media to reach students of all years. Antonian said that PLTV tried a new strategy this fall of printing registration forms in every dorm, hoping to encourage first-years to register upon their arrival to campus. 

“The more people get in the habit [of voting] now, the more we hope they’ll carry that on for the rest of their lives," Antonian said.