Voter Registration Information
If you are a U.S. citizen and will be 18 years or older by Election Day (Tuesday, November 5, 2024), you are eligible to register and vote in the U.S. Elections. For voter registration information and for assistance navigating the voting process, please visit Bates’ Harward Center for Community Partnerships.

If you are studying abroad in Fall 2024, information to assist you in making your plan to participate in the election can be found here.

Submissions Due Tues. October 1
Bates “I Voted” Sticker Design Contest
Back by popular demand, the Harward Center for Community Partnerships is sponsoring the 2024 Bates “I Voted” Sticker Design Contest, open to current Bates students for submission. Click here for guidelines and to submit.

Winning design to be printed as a 2″ round limited-edition sticker for the Nov. 5, 2024 Elections. Original artwork or designs must contain “I Voted,” but the rest is up to you!

BATES VOTES Public Memory Project
Call for Submissions
Over the years, presidential elections have energized and captured the attention of American voters. While people vote for many different reasons, the Harward Center, is leaning into the idea that voting is an act of care for one’s community – regardless of party, ideology, or candidate. 

In that spirit, the Bates community is invited to share brief reflections to inspire and engage our campus ahead of the 2024 elections.  Campus community members are invited to submit a photo, written reflection, or a short video in response to your earliest memory of voting, or what makes you excited about voting in the presidential election. 

Sponsored by the Harward Center for Community Partnerships. Photo: Getty Images

Tues. October 1
Vice Presidential Debate Watch Party
With introduction by faculty from Politics and Rhetoric, Film and Screen Studies

Chase Hall Lounge | 8:45 PM
Refreshments Provided

Download PDF Flyer
Sponsored by Politics, Rhetoric, Film and Screen Studies and Student Affairs

Thurs. October 3
Putin’s Forever War
Despite Donald Trump’s claim that the war in Ukraine is “dying to be settled,” a feat he boasted he could accomplish in 24 hours before even taking office, nothing could be further from the truth: today the war remains intractable with no end in sight. Those who imagine some set of territorial or policy compromises that could secure a lasting peace fail to understand the true underlying causes of Russia’s war, a mistake that could have grave consequences if Kyiv is forced to make a deal with the Kremlin. This talk explores why a just peace remains out of reach and why the stakes have never been higher for Ukraine, Europe, and America as we approach the 2024 election.

Dr. Rob Person, Professor of International Relations, United States Military Academy at West Point

4:15 PM | Commons 221/222

Download PDF Flyer
Sponsored by the Politics Department

Mon. October 7
Art Exhibit:  Making Meaning of Democracy – Contextualizing History of Voting Rights & Voter Suppression in the 2024 Election

6:00 – 9:00 PM | Chase Hall Lounge

Join an art exhibition from students in Art & Visual Culture’s Visual Meaning class.  As part of their research-based conceptual art course, students will explore the history of voting rights and voter suppression in the U.S. Based on their research and inquiry, students will exhibit their art and share reflections to engage the campus community in conversations about voting and civic participation.  Refreshments will be provided.

Sponsored by the Department of Art & Visual Culture, the Harward Center, and Project Pericles

Image: Library of Congress/Interim Archives/Getty Images

Tues. October 8
A Story to Save America: Why U.S. democracy has always been vulnerable, how we reached the brink and what we can do about it
Colin Woodard

Colin Woodard is currently Director of the Nationhood Lab at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University, an interdisciplinary research, writing, testing and dissemination project focused on counteracting the authoritarian threat to American democracy and the centrifugal forces threatening the federation’s stability. 
7:00 PM | Muskie Archives

Sponsored by the Harward Center

Wed. October 9
Election Night Trivia @ Late Night at the Den
With Professors Stephanie Kelly Romano and Steve Engel, Bates College
8:30 PM | Late Night at the Den, Chase Hall

Sponsored by Politics, Rhetoric, Film and Screen Studies and Student Affairs

Thurs. October 10
2024 Annual Richard W. Sampson Lecture

Mathematical Foundations of Democracy: How Mathematics Improves Voting, Electoral Maps, and Representation

7:00 PM | Pettengill G52

Ismar Volić, Professor and Chair of Mathematics At Wellesley College and Director of the Institute for Mathematics and Democracy

Many of the mechanisms that underlie our democracy are outdated, unrepresentative, or simply discriminatory. Winner-take-all races cause spoilers and vote-splitting, discourage political diversity, support the duopoly’s iron grip, and encourage negative campaigning. Crowded primary elections elevate fringe candidates who compete in districts that have been gerrymandered into uncompetitive insignificance. The Electoral College perpetuates inequities in the voting power between voters in different states. READ MORE

Download PDF Flyer
Sponsored by the Mathematics Department

Mon. October 14
Wicked Men: The Dangers of the Imperial Presidency after Trump v. United States (2024)

Dr. Amanda Hollis-Brusky, Pomona College
4:15 PM | Commons 221/222

Professor Hollis-Brusky will discuss the Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump v. United States (2024) in the context of the longer-term trend of judges and lawyers enabling the growth of the Imperial Presidency, explaining how and why these efforts are so dangerous for American democracy.  

Sponsored by the Politics Department

Wed. October 23
The West Wing – Pilot Episode

7:00 PM | Olin 105 Screening Room

Aaron Sorkin’s classic political procedural which ran for 7 seasons. In this pilot episode, the West Wing staffers are introduced as each learns that the President was in a cycling accident. Josh faces the possible loss of his job after an on-air insult of a political opponent, which Toby tries to prevent by having Josh make a personal apology. Sam ineptly lectures a class of 4th-graders about the White House and then asks their teacher which child is Leo’s daughter. Leo must deal with 137 Cuban refugees who escaped on rafts and are seeking asylum. The president walks in during Josh’s apology, recites the First Commandment, and lambastes three Christian pols for not denouncing a fringe group.

Series Pilot
Sponsored by Rhetoric, Film and Screen Studies

Thurs. October 24
Voces: Latino Vote 2024
This brand new PBS documentary focuses on the key issues that will drive Latino voter turnout in some of the most hotly contested battleground states, including Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Florida, and Pennsylvania. The film also delves into the efforts both political parties are making to reach the Latino electorate in California, the state with the largest Hispanic/Latino population in the country. (Read More)
Photo by Roberto (Bear) Guerra

Watch the trailer
7:00 PM | Olin 105 Screening Room

Sponsored by the Politics Department and Latin American and Latinx Studies

Wed. October 30
Brooks Quimby Debate Council
The Brooks Quimby Debate Council is the student debating society at Bates College, founded just after the College in 1855. The BQDC will be hosting a fun debate on a topic (TBD!) relevant to the Presidential Election. Check back for more!
7:00 PM | Chase Hall Lounge

Sponsored by the Brooks Quimby Debate Council and Rhetoric, Film and Screen Studies

Tues. November 5
Election Day! In-person voting in Maine.
If you haven’t voted yet, now is your chance! The Harward Center for Community Partnership can help you find and get to your polling location.

Students vote at the Lewiston Armory or Montello School
Polls Open 7:00 AM – 8:00 PM

Tues. November 5
Election Night Watch Party
8:00 PM | Chase Hall, multiple rooms

Sponsored by Campus Life, Politics, and Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies

Post Election Day Analysis Faculty Panel Discussion and Campus Reflection
Wed. Nov. 6 | Time TBD | Memorial Commons

Thur. November 14
See Jane Run: How Women Politicians Matter for Young People
Speaker Series: Dr. Christina Wolbrecht
4:15 PM | Commons 221/222

Sponsored by the Politics Department

Tues. September 24
After Backlash: The Many Faces of the Racial Presidency
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are unique candidates, but the 2024 election has important historical parallels in time: we are in a moment of transition into a new era of race and the presidency. Drawing on the lessons of the 1870s and the 1970s, this talk explores the pitfalls and the possibilities of the current moment.

Dr. Julia Azari, Marquette University
Julia Azari is Professor in the Department of Political Science at Marquette University. She holds Ph.D., M.A. and M.Phil. degrees in political science from Yale University, and a B.A. in political science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research and teaching interests include the US presidency, US political parties, political communication, and American political development. 
4:15 PM | Commons 221/222

Download PDF Flyer
Sponsored by the Politics Department

Wed. September 18
Screening the Presidency Film Series:
GAME CHANGE
With John McCain trailing in the polls during the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, strategist Steve Schmidt knew he needed a ‘game changer’ to turn the tide. With Sarah Palin, he thought he had found that person. Told primarily through Schmidt’s eyes, the film pulls back the curtain on the McCain team and their clash over politics and principles as Schmidt championed Palin as McCain’s running mate only to later regret it as pressures on the Alaska Governor brought the campaign perilously close to irrelevance.
Watch Trailer

7:00 PM | Olin 105 Screening Room
Sponsored by Rhetoric, Film and Screen Studies
Download PDF Flyer

Tues. September 17
Demystifying the Election
Professors John Baughman, Steve Engel and Stephanie Kelley-Romano answer all questions big and small.
Look for question boxes in various locations on campus during the first days of classes and submit questions in advance.
Refreshments will be available!
4:15 PM | Chase Hall Lounge

Sponsored by Politics, Rhetoric, Screen and Film Studies and the Harward Center
Download PDF Flyer

To mark National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday, September 17, the Bates voter registration table will be open from 7am to 7pm outside of Commons Dining Hall.  Please visit the table for additional information on how to register in Maine, how to request your absentee ballot, and nonpartisan voting information and down ballot races in Maine.  

7:00 AM – 7:00 PM | Outside Commons

Sponsored by the Harward Center for Community Partnerships

Tues. September 17
National Voter Registration Day
Whatever your political affiliation, take the time to to get #VoteReady. The Harward Center and Bates Votes are part of a national effort of over 5,000 businesses, schools, and civic institutions to participate in nonpartisan voter registration ahead of various state deadlines.  Every year, eligible students need to update their registration.   

Fri. September 13
International Perspectives on the U.S. Presidential Election
Students share their insights from their home countries and study abroad experiences
4:15 PM | Global Ed Lounge, Roger Williams Hall

Sponsored by Global Education and the Harward Center
Download PDF Flyer

Tues. September 10
Presidential Debate Watch Party
With introduction by faculty from Politics and RFSS
Chase Hall Lounge | Refreshments Provided!
Doors Open: 8:30 PM
Pre Event Commentary: 8:45 PM
Debate Broadcast: 9:00 PM

Sponsored by Politics, Rhetoric Film and Screen Studies and Student Affairs
Download PDF Flyer

Mon. September 2
Voting Registration Information
4:00 – 5:30 PM | Commons

Mon. August 26
Studying Abroad in Fall 2024? Get Vote Ready!
Join the Center for Global Education and the Harward Center for information on voting in the U.S. Election while studying abroad.
4:00 PM EST | Contact jvendil@bates.edu for Zoom link