The Community College of Philadelphia will be the first institution of higher education to embed voter registration into its student application process, administrators announced Tuesday.
Once the initiative is up and running, prospective students will be prompted with an option to register to vote while signing up for classes online, CCP representatives said. Information from their college forms will be pre-filled into the voter registration paperwork to speed up the process.
“As a student at the Community College of Philadelphia, your education here can also be your pathway to civic engagement and participation,” CCP interim President Alycia A. Marshall said.
CCP leaders hope to roll out the program when young people apply for the 2026 fall semester, though it could be implemented sooner, according to Michelle Lopez, director of the college’s Institute for Community Engagement and Civic Leadership.
Darren Lipscomb, CCP’s associate vice president for enrollment management, said the idea was initially suggested three years ago, but that he had “all but given up” on the effort “until our colleagues from the Committee of Seventy breathed life into the concept.”
The college is “among the very first in the nation to let students register to vote when they register for classes,” added Lauren Cristella, president and CEO of the Committee of Seventy, a local good government organization.
“We are open and available to roll this out across Pennsylvania,” Cristella continued.
Voter registration tables were set up Tuesday in the lobby of Bonnell Building, as CCP’s mascot, a lion called “Roary,” moseyed about and the Sixers Stixers drumline performed at a National Voter Registration Day event. The City Commissioners brought in a voting machine for demonstrations.
State Rep. Anthony Bellmon, whose district includes parts of Olney, Lawncrest, Lawndale and Oxford Circle, was the ‘keynote’ speaker. He recalled his first time voting – in the 2008 presidential election, when he was a freshman at George Washington University in Washington.
“The night before the election, I hopped on an Amtrak train, and I made sure that I was home so I could wake up early, go vote in my community and head back to D.C. for class,” Bellmon said.
Few elections generate as much excitement as that race, when Barack Obama was seeking to become the first Black president, he noted. Less than 17% of registered voters cast a ballot in this year’s May 20 primary.
“When you show up to vote, not every single election will be an emotion-filled election,” Bellmon said. “But it is a responsibility of every single citizen to participate in every single election in order for us to choose our leaders.”
Oct. 20 is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 4 general election, and U.S. citizens who are at least 18 years old on Election Day are permitted to apply.
Applications are available online at vote.pa.gov, and people can submit the paperwork in person at the City Commissioners Offices located at 520 N. Columbus Boulevard (5th floor) and City Hall, Room 142. Registration forms can also be downloaded at vote.phila.gov.
