College voting is more important – and complicated – than ever

Helping students vote has its challenges, especially with a number of restrictive voting measures in some states.

The midterm elections two years ago did not produce the massive red wave that Republicans had hoped for, and young voters were a large part of the reason for that.

Their growing political credibility, belying long-term beliefs, was a clear priority for both parties in the weeks and months leading up to Tuesday’s general election. This trend could play a decisive role in presidential elections and endorsement races that could determine which party takes control of Congress.

School-age voters have traditionally been considered less reliable than other voting blocs. That was until 2020, after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and on the heels of a nationwide racial reckoning, when half of voters aged 18 to 29 showed up, meaning Tufts University analysis “probably one of the highest rates of young people’s participation in elections since the voting age was lowered to 18.” Two years later, the same group of voters had a “decisive influence” in key swing-state races, Tufts were also found.

In other words, young voters are no longer as fickle as they once were. However, the growing turnout came as a result of setbacks.

At least 30 states have passed dozens of restrictive voting laws since 2020, 18 of which went into effect this year, according to a nonpartisan study Brennan Center for Justice. Many of these measures impact students, most of whom may not be aware that their universities have a legal obligation to make it easier for them to register to vote.

Although younger voters tend to be more left-wing than older ones, the anti-war protests that have swept college campuses this year have shown how frustrated many young voters are with the Democratic establishment’s handling of the war in Gaza. Some college students allied themselves with the so-calledunaligned movement”, which dealt a small – but insignificant – blow to President Joe Biden’s primary victory. Surveys taken before Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race, it showed Democrats staring at a troubling enthusiasm gap driven by young voters.

Outside the campaign, Republicans were outraged by the Biden administration’s guidance issued in February which shows nonpartisan get-out-the-vote efforts qualify for the federal Work-Study program, a government program that helps lower-income students pay tuition and fees while working part-time. GOPs frustration with the directive highlights the fear of some politicians at the prospect of wider student participation in the political process.

The Harris and Trump campaigns are keenly aware of young Americans’ newfound voting potential, said Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia.

“I feel like there has never been this kind of effort to reach out to young voters in states like Georgia that are completely lost,” he said.

The number of young people’s voices is growing, changing historical trends

As the 2020 presidential election approached, Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg was anxious. She and her colleagues at CIRCLE, the civic research center she runs has helped lead the way over the last decade at Tufts University in Boston, he watched as a pandemic shutdown invalidated the primary elections in the spring.

They were worried because, as they finally wrote in research report“the necessary level of institutional support for student voting seemed unattainable given the other pressures campuses face.”

These fears disappeared as unprecedented numbers poured in. Ultimately, the turnout rate they calculated for 2020 was 66% based on data from over 1,000 colleges and nearly nine million students, far exceeding the 52% turnout rate in the previous presidential election.

Despite the restrictions of the era, student voting rates eventually more closely resembled voting rates nationwide.

“It was a really high level of participation,” she said.

Kawashima-Ginsberg noted that it is the university’s responsibility to ensure voting is accessible. It’s not just about encouraging civic engagement – universities are legally obligated to help students vote.

In 1998, Congress passed this resolution almost unanimously legislationsigned by former President Bill Clinton requiring schools to do more to help students vote. According to the American Council on Education, the main college advocacy group in Washington, to comply with federal law, schools must make a “good faith” effort to distribute voter registration forms

“How institutions might interpret this seems to vary a lot right now,” Kawashima-Ginsberg said.

Failure to comply with federal regulations may have consequences, including loss of federal funds.

Restrictive measures impact campus voting

North Carolina is not only a swing state that could deliver the presidency to Trump or Harris, but also one of several states where restrictive measures have created additional barriers for college students to cast ballots.

In 2018, the state legislature passed the act requiring North Carolinians to show physical ID cards when voting. The bill has been postponed for several years until Republicans join the state Supreme Court this allowed me to continue in 2023

The decision caused confusion on college campuses in October after the North Carolina Board of Elections election ruled in a case involving the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, it was found that digital ID cards did not meet the requirements of the law. Sam Hiner, a senior at UNC, said the “eleventh hour” decision left some students frustrated.

“It caused a bit of chaos here,” he said. “Especially for out-of-state students, it put them in a real bind.”

Students who move to new states have the right to vote where they attend school, – say lawyers. However, they do not always update their documents or identification, which can create additional obstacles for out-of-state people to verify their identity.

There appears to be a showdown in some states, with some making it harder for students to vote and others expanding access to the ballot box, said Peter McDonough, a top lawyer for the American Council on Education.

McDonough emphasized that 41 states, including some with a particular focus on election security, have enacted expansive voting laws. Still, he said tighter regulations had taken a toll.

Take Ohio:W January 2023The state’s governor, a Republican, passed a voter ID law that limits the ability of out-of-state students to verify their identity in order to cast a ballot. McDonough said if students don’t have a passport, military ID, Ohio driver’s license or Ohio state ID card, they may be out of luck.

“What to do about it?” he said. “These are the challenges that students face.”

In addition to regulations and laws, other elements of university life prevent students from voting. Young people often have busy schedules, said Jack Lobel, national press secretary for Voters of Tomorrow, a youth-led political group. They are typically not as familiar with voting as older adults.

But this generation is different from previous ones, said Lobel, who is 20 and will vote in his first presidential election this year.

“As soon as Gen Z turned 18, we started bucking the trend among young voters,” he said. “Gen Z is showing up to vote against all odds.”

Zachary Schermele is USA TODAY’s education reporter. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele.