WILBRAHAM, Mass. (WWLP) – A 14-year-old girl from Wilbraham has begun biking to Seneca Falls, NY to encourage people to vote.

Charlotte Powell, a Pioneer Valley Performing Arts student, embarked on a 300-mile bike ride to New York to register voters and encourage people to vote. She began her journey at 2:45 p.m. at school, where she will head to Mount Holyoke College, and ends the night at a voter registration event at Smith College around 5:00 p.m.

When asked what she wants people to take away from this, Charlotte told 22News it’s that their vote matters, “I want them to take away that they can do anything and that their vote and voice matters and as long as they take advantage of that privilege that they have, they can do pretty much anything.”

Photo courtesy of Slowey/McManus Communications
Photo courtesy of Slowey/McManus Communications

MAP: Pioneer Valley Performing Arts in South Hadley to Seneca Falls, NY

Along the way, Powell has enlisted the help of local colleges and universities to help register voters. Her goal is to register 100 new voters and to remind people of the hard battles won by the women in the suffrage movement of the early 1900s.

On Thursday, Powell will leave Smith College and will ride all the way to Lenox/Pittsfield. On Friday, she will head to Albany and will stop for the night at SUNY Albany. The rest of her journey will be on Route 20, all the way to Seneca Falls, NY on Monday.

Election day is Tuesday, November 8th. The registration deadline is October 29th, to apply or check your status visit VoteInMA.com.

Massachusetts Ballot