College students voted in big numbers in 2020. Are they ready to do it again?
| EWING, N.J.
Bethany Blonder and her friends line up at the voter information table in the student union before organizers have even finished setting it up in time for lunch.
It鈥檚 true that a fire drill has chased them there from their dorm on the campus of The College of New Jersey, or TCNJ. But the women are also quick to rattle off what they see as the existential issues that make them hell-bent on casting their ballots in the general election.
Climate change, for instance.听
Why We Wrote This
What effect will young voters have on the November election? Trends from prior years show that their habits are changing over time, often motivated by issues that matter to them.
鈥淎ll of our lives are at risk 鈥� our futures 鈥� and the lives of our neighbors, the lives of our friends,鈥� says Ms. Blonder, a freshman from Ocean Township, New Jersey. 鈥淓very time there鈥檚 a hot day outside, I鈥檓 like, 鈥業s this what it will be like for the rest of my life?鈥欌��
Americans ages 18 to 24 have historically voted in very low proportions 鈥� 15 to 20 percentage points below the rest of the population as recently as the presidential election years of and , with an even bigger gap in , according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
But rates of voting by young people have quietly been rising to unprecedented levels, despite their lifetimes of watching government gridlock and attempts in some states to make it harder for them to vote.
More than half of Americans ages 18 to 24 for the 2020 general election, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That proportion more than 8 percentage points from 2016, and has been closing in on the voting rate for adults of all ages. Among college students, the proportion who voted was even higher.
Young people say that they鈥檙e propelled by concerns that directly affect them, such as global warming, the economy, reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, student loan debt, and gun safety.听
As early as elementary school, 鈥渨e grew up having to learn about lockdowns鈥� in response to mass shootings, says Andrew LoMonte, one of the students staffing the voter table. 鈥淲hat people are realizing is that the issues the candidates are talking about actually matter to us.鈥澛�
The political division they鈥檝e witnessed hasn鈥檛 discouraged young voters, says Mr. LoMonte, a sophomore political science major from Bloomfield, New Jersey, who is wearing a 鈥淭CNJ Votes鈥� T-shirt. It鈥檚 made them more determined to become involved.听
鈥淵ou鈥檇 think the dysfunction would scare people off, but it鈥檚 a motivator,鈥� he says.
More young people are voting and having a 鈥渄ecisive impact鈥�
Sixty-six percent of college students聽, up 14 percentage points from 2016, according to the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement at Tufts University鈥檚 Institute for Democracy and Higher Education.
Younger students ages 18 to 21 voted at the highest rates of all, portending a continued upward trend, the study found.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e seeing a generation of activists. I mean, very young 鈥� 16, 17,鈥� says Jennifer McAndrew, senior director of communications and planning at Tufts鈥� Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life. 鈥淚t goes back to them engaging each other and saying, 鈥楾his isn鈥檛 a perfect system. But the only way we can change it is by voting.鈥� 鈥�
This is already showing some results.听
Young voters on Senate races in 2022 in battleground states including Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, or CIRCLE, which is also based at Tufts.听
Youth voter registrations in states considering referenda relating to abortion restrictions. And college students were widely credited last year with a liberal candidate to the Wisconsin state Supreme Court, which is due to take up two major abortion cases.听
After seeing results like those, 鈥測oung people have become more aware of their own political power within states and districts,鈥� Ms. McAndrew says.听
They have also in several swing states. Michigan had the biggest turnout in the country of voters 30 and under in 2022 鈥� 36% 鈥� according to CIRCLE. Young people in Pennsylvania have turned out at above-average rates in the last three presidential races.听
The nonpartisan voter registration group Vote.org reports that it has registered a record in time for the November general election. Of the more than 1 million new voters it signed up in all, Vote.org says 34% were 18, compared to 8% during its 2020 voter registration drive.
The Big Ten Conference runs a voter turnout competition that at member schools. The organization People Power for Florida held its fourth annual 鈥淒orm Storm鈥� for students at eight universities in August and during move-in week, the most ever, the group said.
Both presidential campaigns are using social media and targeting students on college campuses in pivotal states. The Democratic National Committee has hired banner-towing airplanes to fly over college football games on behalf of Democrat Kamala Harris, while Republican Donald Trump has a TikTok account and has courted social media influencers.听
And Taylor Swift鈥檚 recent endorsement of Vice President Harris and helped drive over 24 hours in visitors to the federal government website Vote.gov, which provides voter registration information. 鈥淚f you are 18, please register to vote,鈥� Ms. Swift later said at the MTV Video Music Awards. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an important election.鈥�
Ms. McAndrew gives particular credit for the rising numbers of young voters to the gun-safety organization March for Our Lives, founded by survivors of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17.
鈥淭hey have led protests, of course,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut they have also said, 鈥楬ere鈥檚 how you call your state rep. Here鈥檚 how you call your state senator. Here鈥檚 how you register to vote.鈥欌�澛�
Hurdles to voting: ID confusion, state restrictions
None of these things mean that high youth voter turnout in November is assured. The proportion of college students who voted in the 2022 midterms聽聽from the record set in 2018. An analysis by CIRCLE shows that, for all of the enthusiasm and organizing, voter registration among Americans under 30 in most states so far is聽.听
Meanwhile, several states have that affect student voting 鈥� limiting polling locations, voting hours, absentee voting, ballot boxes, and the use of student IDs to vote. A survey in 2016 found that one in five students who were registered to vote but didn鈥檛 cast ballots said it was because they their IDs. (State for voting are listed in The Hechinger Report鈥檚 鈥淐ollege Welcome Guide.鈥�)
鈥淓ven when young people would have been able to vote, they sometimes tell us they didn鈥檛 even try because they thought they needed another kind of ID,鈥� says Ms. McAndrew, at Tufts.听
A new law in Florida on third-party organizations, including student groups, that try to sign up new voters. The law imposes fines of up to $250,000 if these groups fail to follow a list of rules that include registering with the state鈥檚 elections division.
Although a little-known federal rule requires colleges and universities that accept federal money , universities in some states are newly fearful of antagonizing legislatures that have targeted campuses over anything that could be considered political.听
鈥淲e have seen some places where they鈥檙e a bit more cautious and changed their approach a little bit to make sure they鈥檙e doing everything by the book,鈥� says Clarissa Unger, co-founder and executive director of the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition, which includes about 350 nonpartisan voting advocacy groups. 鈥淭here are certain states where it鈥檚 become much harder, and those are states a lot of our organizations are focused on even more.鈥�
Not all groups of students vote in equally high numbers. in 2020, for instance, compared to 57% at community colleges. Students majoring in education, social sciences, history and agricultural and natural resources turned out at the highest rates; those in engineering and technical fields, at the lowest.听
鈥淓ngineering is really difficult and there鈥檚 a lot of heavy coursework,鈥� says Liora Petter-Lipstein, a senior public policy major at the University of Maryland, who set out to learn why engineering students there voted at lower levels than their classmates. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 really have time for other things and voting doesn鈥檛 become a priority.鈥澛�
Many young Americans also still don鈥檛 see the point, Ms. Petter-Lipstein says.听鈥淎 lot of people said they didn鈥檛 think their vote matters. They don鈥檛 feel informed enough to vote, they missed the ballot request deadline or they say, 鈥極h, I鈥檓 just not a political person.鈥� I was talking to a friend of mine who happens to be an engineer who didn鈥檛 even realize that they could vote in Maryland.鈥�
To them, she tries to connect the election with issues of interest.听鈥淎 lot of what we鈥檝e been focusing on has been, 鈥楬ey, did you know that these things are on the ballot?鈥欌�� That includes, in Maryland, a referendum to add the right to an abortion to the state constitution鈥檚 declaration of rights.听
At TCNJ, , putting the college in the top 20 among higher education institutions nationwide, according to the nonprofit Civic Nation, which advocates for people to vote.
First-year students here are required to take a community service course, there鈥檚 a voter registration contest among residence halls, and students get text reminders about voting deadlines. TCNJ, just outside the capital of Trenton, is also part of a voting competition with other New Jersey campuses, called the Ballot Bowl.听
Even before they arrive, however, students are politically active, says Brittany Aydelotte, director of the school鈥檚 Community Engaged Learning Institute.听
鈥淭hey鈥檙e really coming in with much more knowledge about social justice issues,鈥� Ms. Aydelotte says. 鈥淪ocial media has a huge impact. They鈥檝e been able to figure out how [politics] relates to them personally. Our goal is that they leave here thinking, 鈥楬mmm, what else can I do?鈥� 鈥澛�
The Hechinger Report, U.S. Census Bureau
The polarized politics of the times makes students even more eager to create change, says Jared Williams, the president of TCNJ鈥檚 student government.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not enough to throw our hands in the air and give up,鈥� says Mr. Williams, a senior political science major from Union, New Jersey. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very easy to get disillusioned. But there鈥檚 no way to end that cycle if you don鈥檛 vote.鈥澛�
Besides, adds his vice president for governmental affairs, Aria Chalileh, who is also a senior majoring in political science: Students 鈥渁re realizing that these issues are being talked about. They aren鈥檛 issues that might affect them 50 years down the line. They affect them right now.鈥澛�
That鈥檚 what brought freshman Roman Carlise to the line at the voter registration table, he says.
The political skirmishing of this election season 鈥済ets on my nerves,鈥� says Mr. Carlise. 鈥淭hat bothers me 鈥� seeing people bicker when they鈥檙e supposed to fix the problems.鈥澛�
But he plans to vote anyway, he says.
鈥淚鈥檓 just not the type to say, 鈥楾here鈥檚 nothing I can do.鈥欌��
This story about 聽was produced by , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.
