With just about two weeks until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are working to secure votes in key battleground states where polls show a neck-and-neck race — and part of that strategy is appealing to young voters, some of whom may have switched their voter registration to cast ballots in their college towns located in crucial swing states.
College students are usually allowed to register to vote in “either [their] hometown or where [they] attend college,” depending on state residency requirements, according to vote.gov.
As a result, some students have chosen to register under the address that gives their ballot the most impact, particularly when one of their residences is located in a swing state.
And those votes could potentially make a difference. A recent ABC News/Ipsos poll found the candidates to be tied in the seven battleground states, with 49% for Harris and 49% for Trump.
Given these incredibly tight margins in key battlegrounds, both candidates are fighting for every vote where they can.
“We’ve seen dozens of elections up and down the ballot over the course of the last few years that have been decided by as close as one vote,” said Clarissa Unger, co-founder and executive director of Students Learn Students Vote Coalition, a nonpartisan national network dedicated to increasing student voter participation.