With controversial reports streaming out of the White House every day and governmental actions becoming increasingly polarized, decreasing the disparity in opinion between the constituent and the official is more imperative than ever. From the migrant children in detention camps, to the Special Counsel investigation, to Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s echo of Justice Clarence Thomas, to combat in Syria, official opinion on the course of governmental action has frequently split along party lines. With record turnout in the November 2018 midterm election, voters enabled the Democratic Party to take control of the House of Representatives while also strengthening the Republican control of the Senate, demonstrating that their votes play a crucial role in determining the structure and power dynamics of governmental institutions.
In Autumn 2018, the University of Chicago Democracy Initiative (UCDI) released a survey to gain insight into the voting patterns of the UChicago community in the recent midterm elections. The voting habits of UChicago students are particularly of interest as UChicago leads other schools in terms of voter registration: according to TurboVotes, 71% of UChicago undergraduate students registered to vote, more than double of any other university in the country. So, while the majority of UChicago students are registered to vote, the question of interest is how many students are actually voting. The survey asked for the method, location, and motivations for votes casted. The survey also asked students to elaborate on their choice behind each decision. This survey included 206 responses, providing an incomplete but helpful picture of why students voted and thus providing points of focus for improving student political engagement. How Do UChicago Students Vote? The main goal of this year’s survey was to determine levels of political engagement on campus. The survey demonstrated high levels of voting participation among UChicago students. 90.3% of respondents voted in the 2018 Midterms, 9.2% did not vote, and an additional 0.5% were below the age of 18 but will be registering later in the year. And of the respondents who did not vote, only 22% said that they did not vote because they did not want to, the majority of non-voters experienced barriers to voting as they were unable to register in time or did not receive their absentee ballot. Student responses to UCDI survey as to why they voted can help us understand why voting in 2018 is so different than in previous years. Current political climate was most popular by far with 46.1% of students selecting this as their reason for voting. Whereas, only 2.4%, 5.3%, and 4.4% of students voted for a specific issue, candidate, or social movement, respectively. Moreover, students were very strategic in deciding whether to vote using their home address or their school address. Of the students who were registered to vote for the 2018 election, significantly more were registered to vote using their home address rather than their school address. Specifically, around 73.3% were registered at their home address compared to 21.4% who were registered using their school address. Students usually made this choice while considering several factors including greater attachment to their home state, knowledge of the candidates and issues involved in the election, and feelings that their vote may count more at home. However, while desire to be involved in the political climate effectively influenced student voting trends, this wasn’t the only reason students voted. The “Other” category was second largest with 33% of students selecting this option. Student responses to this reflected that many of them vote due to sentiments of civic duty or that they “always vote,” indicating that voting sometimes had less to do with current political climate and was more about principle. Why This Matters The midterm elections of 2014 saw relatively low voting rates, only about 37%, according to a report by the US Elections Project and Nonprofit Vote. When looking specifically at the number of college students voting, rates were even lower at around 18% nationwide. Around 19% of eligible UChicago students voted in 2014. Conversely, the 2018 midterm elections saw the largest increase in the voter turnout for midterm elections in US history and one of the largest rates of voter turnout for midterm elections. According to the same report mentioned above, 49.3% of the voting-eligible population vote in 2018. This rate is only surpassed after looking back to the election of 1914, as the world was devolving into World War I, when 50.4% of voting-eligible Americans voted. The report also cites a great increase in voting among young people (ages 18-29) from 20% in 2014 to 31% in 2018. Relating these trends back to UChicago, around 90% of the responses to the UCDI survey voted in the 2018 midterm elections. Regardless of why one votes, making voting easy and convenient can help increase voter turnout. The report conducted by the US Elections Project and Nonprofit Vote explains that states with the highest voting turnout in the 2018 election, around 61%, had policies like same day registration or voting at home that make voting easier. On the other hand, the ten states with the lowest rates of turnout, around 43%, did not have any similar facilitating voting policies. Chicago has same day registration and early voting was held at Reynolds club this year, both of which may have helped increase UChicago students voting. And this can be seen in the survey participants’ results, 17% of respondents answered that they voted early at Reynolds and 16% voted in person on Election Day. In today’s political climate, it is more important than ever to express one’s voice . Political engagement does not just mean voting, whether it be through calling our representatives to marching in the streets, democracy is only effective when the people it represents freely express their opinions. Therefore, with the 2020 campaign season in full swing, the UCDI hopes that you will make your voice heard and be politically engaged in any way, shape, or form, beginning now.
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