In anticipation of the 2024 United States General Election, campus political groups made a final push to mobilize student voters. The Trojan Democrats, USC Republicans and the Center for the Political Future organized a variety of voter outreach programs last week.

The Trojan Democrats engaged in phone banking and canvassing efforts throughout the week. Sara Xiao Stienecker, president of the organization and a senior majoring in political science, said the group hosted a Week of Action from Wednesday to Election Day. 

“We’re offering opportunities for kids to get involved, [such as] canvassing and phone banking,” Stienecker said. “We’re also partnering with several Democratic organizations to provide opportunities for students to go canvassing in Arizona and Nevada this weekend.”

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The Trojan Democrats completed a majority of their voter activation efforts earlier in the semester to ensure that students’ mail-in ballots were counted. They focused on ensuring their members could participate in the election by helping them with the registration process and publishing a Trojan Democrat voter guide for the Los Angeles County area.

“It is quite a lengthy process for some students from states that require lots of bureaucratic hoops to jump through to get an out-of-state ballot, and so we help them make sure that they can vote this coming November,” Stienecker said.

The voter programs that Trojan Democrats have organized so far have provided students with ample opportunities to become civically engaged, Stienecker said. 

Stienecker also said she is feeling excited and optimistic about next week’s election. 

“I would really like a sweep of all three bodies … that’s what my ideal situation is. We take back the House, keep the Senate and win the presidency,” she said.

Similarly, USC Republicans focused on reaching out to the USC community, encouraging people to vote and explaining why they believe their preferred candidates are the right fit for the job. 

Major Yang, president of USC Republicans and a senior majoring in applied math as well as computer science, said the group focused on setting up campaign deployments throughout the week. Deployments are short-term opportunities for students to spearhead get-out-the-vote efforts for a political organization. 

“[We collaborate] with the Santa Monica Republican Women’s Federated to essentially do some phone banking and write postcards for voters in swing states,” he said.

Yang said their deployment efforts extended beyond L.A. County, reaching various states across the country. 

“We had another collaboration with Elon Musk’s super PAC, which essentially what they do is they’ll fly [students] who are interested out to North Carolina, a swing state, from [November 1-5] and they will do a full statewide deployment there,” Yang said. 

USC Republicans aimed to provide students with clarity through their efforts, Yang said. They hoped for students to become educated on Republican positions and beliefs, particularly those who may not agree with their opinions. 

Yang said the group is hoping for a Republican victory in the House of Representatives, the Senate and presidency. 

The Center for the Political Future hosted a panel Oct. 29 titled “Election 2024: The Last Lap.” 

The panel featured a discussion between political experts about former president Trump’s closing remarks in Madison Square Garden, current trends in the presidential race, and their predictions for Election Night. Panelists included CPF director Bob Shrum; David Simas, the former CEO of the Obama Foundation; Todd Purdum, a former New York Times Washington correspondent; and Carissa Smith, a former White House Senior Public Engagement Advisor.

Shrum said he was impressed with Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign this year. 

“She flew the plane while putting it together,” he said. “She’s been extremely disciplined and a much better candidate than she was when she tried to run in 2020.”

Attendees watched Vice President Kamala Harris deliver her closing remarks shortly after the panelists’ discussion. 

CPF will also be partnering with the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism to host a presidential election watch party in the Annenberg Hall Forum on election night. Students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to hear real-time election result analysis from a variety of VIP panelists and speakers. 

Pavithra Harsha, a sophomore majoring in political science, attended “Election 2024: The Last Lap.” She said that going to USC political events has been invaluable in expanding her knowledge of the upcoming election. 

“It’s given me a lot of new perspectives, because I’ve had to come to sessions … with people I disagree with, and I’ve listened to viewpoints that I don’t necessarily agree with and had to consider them, which I think is really valuable,” Harsha said.