According to a Michigan Department of State (MDOS) press release on Friday, the department wrapped up the department’s 2025 fall college tour this month. This tour brought the Secretary of State Mobile Office and its nonpartisan poll worker recruitment program, Democracy MVP, to 24 Michigan colleges and universities in September and October, which included Alpena Community College (ACC).

This tour brought essential services and information directly to students, faculty, and staff throughout the state. This outreach encourages civic responsibility among young voters and makes transactions typically offered in person at branch offices (e.g., renewing a driver’s license, registering to vote, or getting a REAL ID) accessible.

“Young people in Michigan continue to shape the future of our state and lead the nation in turnout at the polls,” Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said in the release. “College is a busy time, so we meet students where they are and bring our department’s essential services directly to them. By making government more accessible, we support Michigan’s strong, civically engaged college and university communities.”

According to the release, Michigan residents between the ages of 18 to 29 are among the nation’s “most active young voters.” The release states that “young people” in Michigan voted in record numbers in 2024, marking the highest four-year increase in young voter turnout nationwide, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University.

The CIRCLE report cites Michigan’s voting policies, automatic voter registration, voting by mail, and early in-person voting as contributing factors to the state’s high youth turnout in the 2024 election.

According to the release, the MDOS college tour began in 2021 with just a single van in Southeast Michigan. Since then, the mobile office program has now grown to seven vehicles serving the entire state, making stops at senior centers, veterans’ organizations, health fairs, and other community events. In 2025, mobile offices brought Secretary of State services to more than 1,100 events in communities throughout Michigan and conducted nearly 27,000 transactions for residents.