College students are among the least likely people to vote, especially in midterm elections. But with competitive races all across the country and at all levels of government, even a slight change in young voter turnout could have wide-ranging impacts.
At the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, the student center is bustling at lunchtime. Andrew Guilmain, a junior from Rhode Island, is trying to get his classmates to take a few minutes to register to vote. If they do, they get a doughnut from a local bakery.
“You want a free Allie’s doughnut?” Guilman asked the students streaming past. “All you’ve gotta do is register to vote. We can help you get an absentee ballot too if you need.”
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Young political activists at UMass Dartmouth call for action among their peer group this election season. “If we’re not voting and we’re not choosing who we want to represent us,” said 19-year-old Liz Anusauskas, “those people don’t necessarily represent our ideas and our values.”
Guilmain is part of a group of students from the URI Democrats, the URI Republicans, the student chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and a handful of other student organizations.
The free doughnuts catch some people’s attention, but most students walk right past the voter registration table.
Nationally, turnout among college students is really low. A Tufts University study estimates that in the last midterm elections in 2014, only 18 percent of college students voted, far lower than the overall voter turnout.
John Podesta, a URI junior from New Jersey, shares a name with the longtime Hillary Clinton adviser. Though he says they’re not related, this Podesta is a member of the URI Democrats. He says the registration drive is about voter engagement.
“We’re out here today, and the simplest thing is just to get kids to vote. It isn’t to like sway opinions,” Podesta said.
He’s there, Podesta explained, to help students register and explain how to get an absentee ballot.
“You know there’s not a lot of education or a lot of sources out there to really help with that, or that are made very obvious to them,” he said.
“I’d have to send an absentee ballot and I just don’t have the time to do that, so I’m probably not gonna end up voting.”
But even getting students interested in voting isn’t always easy. Around the corner from the voter registration table, Braxton Parker, a sophomore, is eating lunch with some friends in the cafeteria.
“I have a very fast paced life, so I’m sorta stuck on what I have to do, rather than what I’m able to do,” Parker said, adding that she would like to vote but is not sure if she’ll have the time this year.
A few tables over, Quinton Foley, a junior from Massachusetts, said he probably won’t be voting in November.
“I’d have to send an absentee ballot, and I just don’t have the time to do that, so I’m probably not gonna end up voting,” Foley said.
Foley is not alone. According to the URI website, about 45 percent of students on campus are from out of state, making it more complicated for them to vote. Richard Arenberg, a political science professor at Brown University, says state-level voting regulations can also impact student turnout.
“One of the things that discourages people in general from voting is just how difficult it may be,” Arenberg said, citing voter registration deadlines as an especially difficult barrier. “Particularly if you’re a student and let’s say you’re on a campus and you want to vote there, [but] you know you weren’t even there yet when registration closed.”
“My mom is really big on electing the right people for change and she’s been encouraging me to get out and vote.”
When they do vote, college students tend to vote for Democrats. According to the Pew Research Center, 57 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 25 support Democrats, while 36 support Republicans.
There is some evidence that young voters are more excited to vote this year than they have been in previous midterm elections. Two recent polls from Tufts University and Harvard University suggest an increase in the percentage of young voters who say they are likely to vote.
Back at URI, the voter registration drive is seeing some more action. Rahsheed Wright, a freshman from Pennsylvania, has just picked up his absentee ballot application. He says he’ll be voting for the first time this year, thanks to his mom.
“Well, my mom is really big on electing the right people for change and stuff,” Wright said. “And she’s been encouraging me to get out and vote.”
But even for a motivated student like Wright, the process can still be daunting. He said he planned to call his mom to help make sense of the absentee ballot application.
“I just got the forms now. Probably gonna call her when I go back to my dorm and talk to her about it,” Wright said. “Hopefully she can iron out the details and get it to me.”
We’ll know more about whether Wright is part of a larger trend of college students voting after November 6th.
