The number of college age voters in the U.S. notably increased for the 2018 presidential election, and the country has seen a gradual uptick in voter activity among people aged 18-24 every election since then.
But even with more and more college aged voters getting involved in recent elections, less than half of them actually show up to vote. In comparison, the turnout by citizens aged 65 and older often exceeds 70%.
I wandered around the Utah State University campus for an hour or two to talk to some students. I asked them if they were planning on voting and I got a lot of mixed responses.
About half the students I talked to said they would be voting for Kamala Harris. And the other half told me they wouldn’t be voting, hadn’t decided yet, or were voting independently. Only one student I spoke with told me he would be voting for Donald Trump, though he didn’t tell me why.
The very first person I spoke to was Caroline Robbins, a psychology student. She told me she was actually just coming back from voting, and was now returning to work. Robbins said she had voted for Harris.
“I really agree with her politics and policies, and I really like her as a human,” she said.
A few students I talked to said that they really just didn’t agree with Trump or Harris.
One of those students was Taylor Widdison, a kinesiology major, who said this was the reason he wouldn’t be voting in this election.
“I don’t know, I just feel like, both sides I don’t really agree with fully," he said, "so I don’t want to screw someone else over, if that makes sense.”
I also spoke with Emily, who told me she was studying social work and would be voting for Jill Stein.
“How do I say this, she’s better for the people," she said. "Trump’s not good for everybody and Kamala loves genocide, so I can’t do those two people.”
Peter Larraby, a forest ecology major, said he thinks he plans on voting but needs to do a little more research first. If he did end up casting his ballot, he said he would be voting independently. He also pointed out that he didn’t think people should complain about policies if they aren’t actually making the effort to vote.
“Whatever side of the political alley you’re on, people just complain, complain, complain," Larraby said. "But if you’re not putting your voice in, then you have no reason to complain.”
Thanks for joining us on Election Day. You can find results and reporting here.
