Penn Leads the Vote isn't resting on its laurels.
Student participation in elections has skyrocketed since the group's inception in 2004, and members are now trying to triple turnout for the vote this November.
2006 College grad Jason Oberman founded Penn leads the vote in collaboration with Joseph Tierney and John DiIulio of the Fox Leadership Program.
Nearly three times as many Penn students voted in the 2004 election as did in 2000, group director and College senior Bren Darrow said.
Penn Leads the Vote principally spreads the word of civic engagement through other student groups, Darrow said.
Darrow said he hopes the success of two years ago can be replicated in the upcoming Congressional election - a greater challenge simply because people tend to vote in greater numbers during presidential elections.
To achieve this goal, Penn Leads the Vote has increased its involvement in the college houses, the InterFraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council, creating contests to see which Greek organization can register the most voters.
A new Web site, leadthevote.com, will also be going live later this week barring any problems, said College junior Danny Evens, who has been in charge of the site's development.
"The Web site will serve as a resource for voter information: . how, when and where to both register and vote in Philly, as well as resources for filing an absentee ballot in other states," Evens said. It "will also feature commentary on policy issues deemed significant to the college-aged cohort."
Darrow stressed that the non-partisan position that Penn Leads the Vote maintains will carry over into this Web site, creating a "thorough, multifaceted" interface that anyone can use as a resource.
After the Oct. 7 voter-registration deadline, Penn Leads the Vote will enter its "Get Out the Vote" phase, making sure people who have registered to vote actually get to the polls on Election Day.
DiIulio has offered students in his Introduction to American Politics class extra credit for volunteering at the polls on Election Day.
Penn Leads the Vote has also been instrumental in increasing the number of polling sites available to students on Penn's campus. Before 2004, all registered voters living on campus had to go to David Rittenhouse Laboratory - an inconvenient location that kept many students from going to vote, according to Darrow.
Now, there are six separate locations throughout campus designated solely for Penn students, saving time at the polls and drastically increasing voter turnout.
Penn Leads the Vote may be small - only 12 board members and around two dozen regular volunteers - but its aspirations are grand.
"Many Penn students will be able to vote for the first time" this year, Darrow said. "This is the time to get to learn about and get involved in local politics."
Even those students who choose not to vote in Philadelphia are encouraged to vote at home, Darrow added.
"Voting is an important part of being a citizen," he said.
Student leaders in partisan political organizations agreed.
Representatives from College Republicans could not be reached for comment.
