Chloe Libby ’27 has always been passionate about politics and civic engagement. At Trinity, she has turned those passions into real-world impact that may help increase voter turnout in Hartford during this year’s election.
Libby, who is double-majoring in political science and human rights, is a member of the Hartford Voter Captains’ Project, an initiative led by Assistant Professor of Political Science Dang Do to help encourage voter engagement among Hartford residents.
The Voter Captains’ Project, started by Do and Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Law Abigail Fisher Williamson, recruits Hartford residents as “voter captains,” who are tasked with mobilizing their communities to vote. The project is supported by Do’s Lab on Civic & Democratic Participation (dubbed the “Dang Gang”), in which Trinity students create their own projects to help advance the goals of the initiative.
Libby heard about the Voter Captains’ Project through a class taught by Do, which sparked her interest in becoming part of the team. “[Do] introduced the work he was doing, and I feel like that was the most I’ve ever learned about civic engagement in a class,” Libby said. “He taught us a lot about behind-the-scenes work, and we had people who were doing local work in Hartford come and speak to us.”
Her individual project, “A Good Sign,” aims to increase voter turnout in Hartford through the creation of handmade yard signs encouraging voting. Community members can either make the signs themselves or share what they’d put on their sign with the Voter Captains’ Project team, who could make the sign for them.
“We specifically asked [Hartford residents] what’s affecting their communities, and the idea is that these signs will be more effective than just, ‘Go Vote,’” said Libby. “We prompt them by asking, ‘What do you like about your community? What do you not like about your community?’ Then they can make signs that say, ‘Vote to keep Hartford moving,’ or something more specific like, ‘Vote against defunding school programs.’”
“A Good Sign,” which also is Libby’s senior thesis, is based on research done by Samantha Olsen ’25 about the efficacy of handmade “get-out-the-vote” signs within the Trinity community. “My research is built off [Olsen’s project], but I’m more interested in the messaging of the signs itself. My question is, ‘Do culturally resonant civic messages expressed through community-made, handmade signs mobilize participation more effectively than generic civic reminders in urban communities?’”
Do said that Libby’s “A Good Sign” project adds to his research lab’s work by examining what types of messaging work best. “My overall research shows that a trusted messenger, like a friend or family member, adds value in convincing people to vote, and we give our Voter Captains a set of principles to create their own relevant messages in their conversations with the people in the networks,” Do said. “Chloe’s work refines this approach by testing whether explicitly connecting community and place in messaging would have a stronger appeal. It helps inform the principles we teach Voter Captains.”
Libby additionally spent the past summer doing community-based research with Do in Hartford. “Prior to the Voter Captains’ Project, Professor Do’s research was on racial minority interest groups, the efficacy of mobilization, and key challenges to the traditional interest group structure,” she said. “In Hartford specifically, there are persistent gaps in voter turnout, and what we’re trying to do is address these gaps.”
Alongside fellow research assistant Malika Rice ’27, Libby assisted Do with recruiting Voter Captains in Hartford. “We went to NRZ [Neighborhood Revitalization Zone] meetings, the Hartford Jazz Festival, the Hartford Bonanza, and spent a lot of time at public libraries. We really got to know the community members, which was very rewarding,” she said.
Libby said that she was drawn to the Voter Captains’ initiative due to her desire to be more involved with the Hartford community. “I love the work I do academically, but I feel like it can become too abstract and detached from real things that are happening in the world,” she said. “I thought, ‘I’m going to be living in Hartford for four years, and I would like to be engaged beyond this campus.’”
Do added that one of his research lab’s goals is to build a community of students who work together to pursue interesting research in Hartford. “Chloe exemplifies this goal,” he said. “She has taken the initiative to pursue an interesting line of research, spent late nights in meetings and Voter Captain training sessions, and has put herself to work in the Hartford community to drive our vision of change. I am so immensely proud of her.”
Following her work on the “A Good Sign” project and with the Voter Captains, Libby plans to continue researching political messaging. “There’s so much thought that goes into how we present politics and voting to the general public,” she said. “Civic engagement is so important, and I would like to continue doing any kind of research that remains community-based.”
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