Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) is one of over 235 campuses in 37 states and the District of Columbia designated as a “Voter Friendly Campus.” The initiative, led by national nonpartisan organizations Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project (CVP) and NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, held participating institutions accountable for planning and implementing practices that encourage their students to register and vote in 2020 elections and the coming years.

The mission of the Voter Friendly Campus designation is to bolster efforts that help students overcome barriers to participate in the political process. MCCC was evaluated based on a college-wide plan to register, educate, and improve the turnout of student voters in 2020; the facilitation of voter engagement efforts; and a final analysis of MCCC’s efforts. The designation is valid through December 2022.  

As part of MCCC’s effort to be designated a voter friendly campus, MCCC President Dr. Victoria Bastecki-Perez became a signatory of the ALL-IN Higher Education Presidents’ Commitment to Full Voter Participation. MCCC updated its voter registration efforts to incorporate more online registration and provided consistent messaging to students and employees about voter registration, mail-in and absentee ballots and voting rights.

Additionally, MCCC focused student programs and events on important civic issues of the day, and developed forums to provide opportunities for students to discuss these issues and the election with their peers. The Blue Bell and Pottstown campuses also served as community polling places, ballot drop-off locations and a Satellite Election Office.

MCCC has made a strong statement about the civic mission of higher education to prepare students to be engaged participants in democracy and is excited to continue engaging students through 2021, 2022, and beyond. 

“We are very proud to receive this designation which is the result of a campus-wide collaboration among numerous employees across many departments. MCCC is committed to developing civic-focused programming, providing resources and educating and encouraging our students on the importance of being civically engaged,” said Michael Bettinger, MCCC Director of Government and External Relations.

The institutions designated Voter Friendly Campuses represent a wide range of two-year, four-year, public, private, rural, and urban campuses. The program ultimately serves over 3.5 million students.