Columbia Voting Week began as the brainchild of former Columbia Political Union President David Kang. David envisioned a week-long celebration of civic engagement on campus to drum up voter registration and political awareness around the school.

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In the years since, Voting Week has become an annual mainstay of political life on campus, offering a range of fascinating and dynamic speakers to discuss democracy and voting while volunteers help members of the campus community file for absentee ballots and register to vote. Speakers have included Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, former Prime Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan Barham Salih, and other distinguished guests. Voting Week has also registered hundreds of students to vote here in New York as well as in their home districts.​

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During the first year, Voting Week was organized by CPU in partnership with fellow university organizations. Today, Voting Week remains a part of the CPU family, though the Voting Week Organizing Committee now operates independently under the leadership of its directors and committee members to devise and implement our programs each year.

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We would like to thank the CPU board and our partners at the Office of Student Engagement at Columbia Undergraduate Student Life for their generous support, both monetary and moral.