“California does not need your vote. New York does not need your vote. Illinois does not need your vote. Wisconsin needs your vote,” said Emily Treffert, a junior at UW-Madison and an organizer with The Wisco Project, a liberal group engaging students to vote.

The 2024 election is her first time voting in a presidential race, and she’s urging out-of-state students to put their vote where it matters.

“This time, it’s much more, instead of telling them that they can vote, it’s telling them that they should vote,” she said.

Students can vote where they attend college or at their permanent address before college. What’s needed to vote in Wisconsin? In-state students need to register and have a valid ID.

“For out-of-state students, it’s the same registration form. But instead of doing your driver’s license number, you do the last four digits of your Social Security number, as well as a proof of residence,” said Treffert.

But there’s one more piece. Students who are not from Wisconsin also need a state issued voter ID at nearly all two- and four-year campuses.

Wisconsin campuses like UW-Madison have numbers that could flip razor thin margins. In 2020, UW-Madison’s turnout rate was over 70%, or nearly 25,000 students. Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden won Wisconsin in 2016 and 2020, respectively, with just over 20,000 votes each time.

“We have over 40,000 undergraduate students. So, if you think that if every single student were to go out and vote, the insane impact that could have,” Treffert said.

“So, every vote really, really does matter,” said Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin. He sees a generation that’s already voting at higher rates than previous ones, creating voting habits now that will carry on past the 2024 election season.

“Young students, whether they’re conservative or progressive, tend to be very highly motivated and vote. And that’s important, because you generally establish your lifetime voting tendencies when you’re in school,” Heck said.

But he warns of factors that could prevent students from even getting to the polls.

As early voting is underway, there are reports of intimidating texts sent to students, saying if they vote where they are not eligible, it could result in fines or jail.

“Every general election, we see mailings, we see text messages from third-party groups that just don’t get it right. It’s just about getting people to the official source of information,” said Meagan Wolfe, administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Wolfe points to the agency’s online Voter Information Center as an official source of information.

Heck said fear of intimidation at polling places should not scare students away.

“We worry about whether there’ll be people that will be standing trying to tell people that they can’t vote,” he said. “You have every right to vote.”

But it’s not just Madison — the national spotlight is on Wisconsin and all its youth.

“Yes — UW-Madison is one of the largest universities and obviously is impactful. But I think we also need to focus on the UW schools, private schools, tech schools across the state,” Treffert said.

This impact is especially true as presidential campaign stops have been frequent in smaller cities.

“I think that is just a really strong signal that those campaigns know that Wisconsin matters, and that it’s not just Madison, it’s Milwaukee, it’s Green Bay,” said John Zumbrunnen, vice provost of academic affairs at UW-Madison and faculty co-chair of BadgersVote, which is a voting information effort on the campus.

Zumbrunnen said up until Nov. 5, candidates will continue their Wisconsin campaign stops, bringing energy and attention.

“It’s everywhere out around Wisconsin, as those campaigns know that they need to connect with Wisconsin and encourage people to get out,” he said.

“Your own voice and your own ability to be able to vote, particularly in Wisconsin, and I can’t say this enough, is probably louder here than in almost any other state in the country,” said Heck.

Teffert cast her ballot on Oct. 22, the first day of early voting in the state, and she will continue to canvas until Nov. 5.

“That’s why when people are like, ‘Oh well, politics doesn’t really impact me,'” she said. “Doesn’t impact you? You mean, the future of the world? Like the future of our Earth, the planet we live on?”