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Colleges and universities can encourage students to be engaged citizens with voting advocacy work.
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In 2020, college students voted at a record-high rate, falling short of the overall national voting rate by one percentage point.
As the 2024 presidential election approaches this fall, campus leaders and others are working to get students ready to vote by providing civic education and voter registration initiatives.
By the numbers: A spring 2024 poll from the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School found, among young people aged 18 to 29, more than half say they will definitely be voting in the presidential election.
College students voted at lower rates in the 2022 midterm elections than they did in 2018, with only around 31 percent of college students voting, according to data from the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement.
Voter registration rates among college students rose in 2022, however, from 73.3 percent in 2018 to 76.1 percent. In 2020, 83 percent of college students were registered to vote.
Barriers to student voting: Voting is often challenging for college students, with varying state laws about allowing student identification to be used as proof of ID and residency requirements. Some states also require voters to be registered a certain number of days prior to the election, while other states make it easier with same-day registration.
In addition to registering to vote, casting a ballot can be difficult. State law around where temporary voting sites can be established, such as in Texas, can eliminate colleges’ eligibility to have their own stations. Students may also have limited time to stand in line at a voting booth, further reducing access to voting.
Ready to vote: To mobilize student voters, campus stakeholders have implemented a number of strategies.
- Salem State University in Massachusetts has a student ambassador program, Voter Registration Ambassadors (VRA), launched in 2021 to encourage voting in local elections. Each VRA is paid to partner with a campus department or community organization to integrate voter engagement. The university has also hosted a Voterpalooza event, featuring the campus mascot and ambassadors.
- The University of Washington in Seattle has a coalition of campus members (including students, staff, faculty, community members and civic leaders) called Democracy Dawgs who meet regularly to increase student voting rates at the university.
Checking the Right Boxes
Colleges and universities can play a key role in promoting student voting and civic participation, but campus leaders should be aware of how federal law limits partisan activity at institutions of higher education.
The American Council on Education published a brief in October 2023, highlighting some best practices and guidance for practitioners and administrators as they consider the institution’s role in the election.
Read more about the initial release or access the June 2024 update.
- Lehigh University in Pennsylvania recognizes an Election Day holiday each year, as of 2021, when classes are canceled to provide time for students to vote or engage in other civic-minded programming across campus.
- The University of Nevada at Reno allows students living on campus or those unable to receive mail at their addresses to use the Center for Student Engagement mailing address to register to vote and receive their ballots.
- George Mason University launched You’re the Voter in 2023 to research civic engagement on college campuses, encourage voting among young people and provide experiential learning opportunities. The initiative sends first-year students participating in the Democracy Lab residential learning community into classrooms to provide information about voting and encouragement to vote.
Reaching all students: Some groups are looking to ensure all college students are represented during the presidential election, with special initiatives targeting historically marginalized or underrepresented groups.
- Xceleader and HeadCount partnered to create the Say It Louder Tour, hoping to mobilize 10,000 students at historically Black colleges and universities to vote in the upcoming election. The tour will hit 10 campuses during their welcome week or orientation events.
- The Community College Commitment looks to engage 500,000 new community college student voters by 2028, starting with the 2024 presidential election cycle. To do so, the initiative is awarding small grants ($1,000 to $5,000) to colleges to put on voting drives and other similar projects around voting.
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