College Voter Turnout
By Kathryn McClintock
Graphic by James Steinberg
On Nov. 5, Oregon held special elections in Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties, and Washington state held one in Clark County. According to the Oregon government’s voting tally website, around 30 percent of eligible voters participated—529,649 people out of 1,735,758 people.
In Oregon, these elections had to do with school district funding, funding for watershed areas and other wildlife preservation initiatives, and other budget-related options. Participation in midterm or special elections has historically been less than participation during the year of a presidential election, but Oregon has implemented voting by mail and Motor Voter laws to increase participation.
Motor Voter laws did increase voter registration and participation, said the Oregon Public Broadcasting website. This increase was particularly pronounced among populations that don’t traditionally register to vote, and forty percent of that unlikely-to-register population ended up voting in 2016. That population includes younger, college-aged individuals.
According to Forbes, from 2014 to 2018, college student voting participation doubled. Even so, their participation still only lay at around forty percent. Over time, it has become evident that college-aged individuals vote less than people from older cohorts.
The Campus Voter Project states that students often don’t vote because they missed the deadline to register, they didn’t have the ability to go register, or they don’t have a driver’s license. They highlight the fact that young adults will make up the majority of eligible voters in the next presidential election.
Even though young adults are the largest portion of eligible voters, historically, they make up one of the smallest portions of voters. To combat this, the Campus Voter Project suggests that colleges provide politically neutral information about voter registration, and involve students in community issues.
Politicians and campaigners may have focused efforts on older voters in the past, but if these trends continue, they will have to consider issues that younger voters are concerned about. By becoming involved in elections, younger voters modify election behavior in future midterm and presidential elections, while simultaneously having an effect on current, closer to home, issues.