Student groups aim to increase voter turnout

Americans are charting a unique and tumultuous election year. Concerns and doubt about voting legitimacy, the reliability of the process and the safety of voting in person during a pandemic are circulating. Pinched in this domain, American citizens are making unprecedented requests for absentee ballots, the residents of Stearns County included.

Here at CSB/SJU, our community is heaving itself up to the challenge. Amid the weight of new class models, new recreational norms, behavioral protocols and connection restrictions, campus initiatives are striving to continue the trend of voter participation.

The midterm election saw over 50% voter turnout among Johnnies (52%) and Bennies (55%) in 2018, according to National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement data.

This is contrasting the 36% national average of 18- to 29-year-old turn out via the Census Bureau. This election, the goal is to increase those turnout numbers by 20 points. In fact, there is a push to have the highest voting turnout at CSB/SJU ever.

Various factors contribute to this goal. First, resources are very accessible. Students have access to a comprehensive source of information and guidelines under the Political Science department page. Social media, while continually integrating itself further into our lives, gives voting advocates the opportunity to raise awareness and urge participation effectively and efficiently.

Secondly, the efforts to promote turnout are prominent. The CSB/SJU Votes coalition, with constituents from several on-campus groups, are representing promotional and awareness efforts at venues like the Involvement Fair and through mediums like door-knocking.

College Republican Caleb Jungling described the coalition as nonpartisan and completely collaborative,

“[They are] synchronizing messaging and using universal graphics so that the goal is recognizable regardless of which club a person receives it from,” Jungling said by email. Both College Republicans and College Democrats are working independently beside the coalition to reach people and make sure they are informed.

Lastly, there is a dimension of the craziness we are living in that brings people more in touch with politics.

“Voters are seeing every day how national and local decisions are affecting their lives in ways that hadn’t been noticed before,” a representative from the College Democrats wrote.

The club believes that “early voting statistics are already showing increased participation in the election and this will continue moving towards the election date.