Voting Among ETSU Students Up Nearly 20 Percent During 2020

From East Tennessee State University:

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – East Tennessee State University recently received a report that reveals student voting increased significantly during last year’s presidential election, rising from 46.8% in 2016 to 64.3% in 2020 for a total 17.5% increase overall.

The report comes from the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE), founders of the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, or NSLVE.

The study’s authors report that nationwide, college communities are seeing record-number voter turnout. Educational institutions across the nation saw a national average of 66% voter turnout during the 2020 presidential election, a notable increase from the 52% turnout during the 2016 year. The 14% student voter increase outpaces that of all Americans, which jumped 6 percentage points from 61% to 67%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“That students, often younger and first-time voters, turned out at rates commensurate with the general public is nothing short of stunning,” said IDHE Director Nancy Thomas. “We attribute this high level of participation to many factors, including student activism on issues such as racial injustice, global climate change and voter suppression, as well as increased efforts by educators to reach students and connect them to the issues and to voting resources.”

IDHE’s National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) is the nation’s largest study of college and university student voting. Institutions must opt-in to the study, and at this time, nearly 1,200 campuses of all types — community colleges, research universities, minority-serving and women’s colleges, state universities, and private institutions — participate. The dataset reflects all 50 states and the District of Columbia and includes 49 of the nation’s 50 flagship schools. IDHE uses de-identified student records to ensure student privacy. The 2020 dataset is robust with 8,880,700 voting-eligible students representing 1,051 colleges and universities.

“We are ecstatic to see how many ETSU students turned out during the 2020 presidential election,” said Joy Fulkerson, director of Leadership and Civic Engagement. “This is a testament to the incredible work of so many of our student leaders and student organizations, faculty, staff and administrators. Their commitment to helping students register to vote, sharing with them the importance of participating in both local and national elections and ensuring they are able to cast their ballot in the most efficient way possible is applauded. We’re excited to build on this momentum and look forward to record success in 2022 and beyond.”

For the complete national report, visit https://tufts.app.box.com/v/democracy-counts-2020.

For more information about ETSU Votes, contact Joy Fulkerson at fulkersj@etsu.edu.

This press release was produced by East Tennessee State University. The views expressed are the author's own.