“We want to support people, remind them that their vote is important,” she said.

BLAME THE COLLEGE, NOT THE STUDENTS

Voting in one’s home state, rather than from a school address, is not a new trend, said Alex Keyssar ’69, Stirling professor of history and social policy at the Kennedy School of Government. He said there has been a movement to increase absentee voting within the last 20 or 30 years, probably in an effort to increase voter turnout. The trend of voting from a college address has become more available only in the latter half of the 20th century, due to less stringent definitions of what constitutes residency, said Keyssar.

“I don’t see strategic voting as an ethical issue because people have ties to both places—that’s always been one of the complexities of student voting,” Keyssar said. “Strategic voting is really a contradiction—it is a phenomenon created by the Electoral College. It is a logical response to the system as it is now structured. The electoral college has done that. Students haven’t done that.”

According to a national survey by the Institute of Politics released last week, 42 percent of students plan to vote via absentee ballot.

Tozeski says students are more conscientious about sending in their ballots this year. “Many people took care of registering during the summer,” she said. “Lots of Massachusetts students from as far away as Pennsylvania are driving home to go vote.”

The right to vote in a state that counts now confers some on-campus prestige.

Barraged by campaign mailings, calls and pollsters, students from swing states are enjoying their elite status.

Floridian Leroy Terrelonge III ’07 said he was basking in his new power as a swing state voter.

“It does make me feel important,” said fellow Floridian Elena C. Castaneda ’08. “I feel like I actually am going to have a lot of say in what happens.”

And that makes some Boston natives jealous.

“My two New Mexico roommates make fun of me for not having their voting power,” said Greg M. Schmidt ’06, campaigns director for the College Dems. But he says he is campaigning extra hard to make up for it.

And Kendall points out that even though Republicans will not carry a state like Massachusetts, they should still make sure to vote so that politicians see the conservative views of some of their constituents.

“We want to give the President the strongest support possible,” she said, “but also support Republicans in other state races as well.”

—Staff writer Faryl W. Ury can be reached at ury@fas.harvard.edu.