Before Maine native Amara Nickerson left in July to spend her junior year studying abroad in Chile, much of her summer revolved around bike riding.
Though she wasn't training for the Tour de France or trying to increase her athleticism, the 20-year-old's reasons for pedaling did involve exercise. As a co-founder of "Bike the Vote," an initiative she and Harvard student Ben Sprague executed with the help of an MTV grant, Nickerson was biking to encourage Maine residents to exercise something beyond their gams and glutes -- their right to vote.
"The goal was to register as many people as possible to vote -- particularly 18- to 24-year-olds, who vote the least out of any age group -- with the idea that once they are registered to vote, they'll be more likely to go to the polls on election day," Nickerson said of the "completely non-partisan" project, in which volunteers bike from town to town, registering citizens and registering them to vote.
"We have really important presidential and congressional elections coming up, and we wanted to do something to get people excited about the election and increase the chances that as many people as possible in Maine would make it to the polls," Nickerson said. "Those of us who are involved all agree that no matter what people's political affiliations are, this country works best when they all make their voices heard by voting."
Though the actual biking didn't begin until June, Nickerson had been planning the project with Sprague since last December. "Ben told me about this idea, and I was thrilled to help him out," said Nickerson, who added that the biking element of the initiative was born out of a desire to "do something different that would catch people's attention ... and also be outside enjoying the beautiful Maine summer!"
To finance "Bike the Vote," Nickerson and Sprague applied for a grant from MTV. They received it, and, along with two of Sprague's friends from high school, began to figure out the project's logistics. On June 21, they set off after extensive planning, having enlisted volunteers to accompany them.
"We started in York, the southernmost town in Maine, and the goal was to get all the way to Madawaska, the northernmost town in Maine," she said. (Their long journey wasn't entirely engine-free: "We had a van with supplies like a table, t-shirts for volunteers, pens, and voter registration cards," Nickerson said.)
"Once we arrived at a town center and met up with any other people who showed up to help out for the day, we would make a plan that usually involved someone staying in one place with the table and others going around the table talking to people in the streets and stopping into businesses," she said.
By the end of August, "Bike the Vote" had registered over 450 voters and traveled almost 200 miles, to a mostly receptive Maine population. "There have been people that didn't want anything to do with us, and some businesses were unwilling to have us around," Nickerson said. "But overall, it's been a very positive response, and a lot of people have commented on what a great initiative it is. [It was rewarding], registering people who were really excited about getting to vote -- mostly people who had just turned 18."
The fervor of the project's volunteers -- some of whom had yet to pass that milestone themselves -- impressed Nickerson. "Many were actually too young to vote themselves, but felt strongly enough about voting that they donated some of their summer vacation to the effort," she said. The willingness of people who weren't old enough themselves to vote to donate their time trying to convince others to vote...it was really great to see."
Nickerson, who is majoring in International Relations with a focus on Latin America, is no stranger to working with those younger than her. Before leaving for Chile, she was active in the Leonard Carmichael Society's Special Friends program, as well as JumpStart.
"Bike the Vote," though, marks Nickerson's first foray into the political arena -- and it's one that keeps rolling despite her absence and other setbacks. "Since I left to come to Chile, Ben got mono, which created a serious wrench in the works," she said. "[But] he's organized some big one-day events to register voters in the big population centers that we never got to, so 'Bike the Vote' is still registering voters."
And it may continue to, even once November 2 has come and gone: though "Bike the Vote" was initially created with the upcoming election in mind, "it certainly has the potential to be an ongoing project, and I don't think we're ruling anything out," Nickerson said.
Though she's excited to learn about "the history, politics, and culture of Chile" while she's abroad, Nickerson is disappointed to be out of the country this November, when her efforts to get people to the polls will pay off.
"I definitely wish I was in the country for the election," she said. "I think it's so exciting! And yes, of course I will vote absentee. I hope that when I'm an old lady I can say that I never missed a chance to vote in an election."
Nickerson, who is considering entering the Peace Corps or attending graduate school after her graduation in 2006, foresees a potential career for herself in national politics -- but not in competitive biking.
"It was really fun -- biking is definitely a great way to see different places, spend time outside, and get a little exercise," Nickerson said. "But I'm definitely an amateur!"
