With Pennsylvania primaries for the 2016 election approaching on Tuesday, April 26, the political clubs on Dickinson’s campus are busy campaigning for candidates and encouraging students to vote.

College Democrats President Phillip Morabito ’17 says that while the College Democrats have not officially endorsed a candidate, they have provided opportunities for all members to engage with whichever candidate they support, whether it be senator Hillary Clinton or senator Bernie Sanders.

“Both of the presidential campaigns have worked closely with us,” said Morabito, “and they have looked to us to do canvassing and phone banking in the community.”

The College Democrats have also been proactive in reminding students to apply for absentee ballots; while many students register to vote in Carlisle, others stay registered at their home address. A non-scientific pole conducted by The Dickinsonian showed that 78 percent of students polled plan to vote in their home state’s primary.

The College Republicans are also preparing for the Pennsylvania primaries. Several members of the College Republicans will be working the polls on Election Day for republican candidates, says Krysti Oschal ’17, the executive director of the PA Federation of College Republicans. The club also has not endorsed a particular candidate, but they did have an active Students for Rubio chapter that circulated petitions to get him on the ballot in Pennsylvania, but these plans lost traction with the suspension of Rubio’s campaign in March.

According to Oschal, the group was actively circulating petitions for other Pennsylvania candidates as well, including Ohio Governor John Kasich, Representative Stephen Bloom and Congressmen Lou Barletta (who plans to open a Donald Trump campaign headquarters in Harrisburg).

The College Republicans have been actively engaged with the election this year, explains Oschal. Members of the group did doors for republican candidates running for State Senate nearly every weekend this semester. The group had numerous guest speakers at meetings, including three out of the four state senate candidates for the 31st district (covering Cumberland and York counties). The club has also made several trips this semester, including to the Conservative Political Action Conference and the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference. They have also partaken in phone banking with Americans for Prosperity.

In addition, both the College Republicans and the College Democrats are working with Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) and the American Association of University Women to provide election day shuttles to the local polling area at Grace Baptist Church. SSDP President Caleb Gutwillig ’18 and other volunteers attended the opening of Bernie Sanders’ Harrisburg headquarters for support.