Election season approaches

As November approaches, CSB+SJU Votes Coalition is championing a “get out and vote” initiative, which is focused on making students aware of their voting choices and encouraging them to go to the polls and vote this year.

The initiative is aimed at registering at least 90% of eligible CSB+SJU students to vote and increase total student turnout rates over 85%. From the last available voting date, 92.2% of Bennies and 91.8% of Johnnies were registered to vote in 2020, yet only 84.8% of Bennies alongside 81.5% of Johnnies turned out to vote.

CSB+SJU Votes Coalition student representative and CSB senior Cecilia McNair spoke of her passion behind the voting initiative.

“We are inheriting the world. If young people are not getting out there and voting, we are letting people who are retired, or retiring, or at completely different stages of their life, really decide our future,” McNair said. “I’ve never personally been okay with that, and I think, you know, it’s a good motivator, [we] really need to have young people get out and vote. Otherwise, we will not see the changes that we want to see.”

In the past few election cycles, more Bennies have shown up to the polls than Johnnies. Though the gap is thinning, with Bennies outperforming by only 3.3%, it appears that CSB+SJU are continuing to follow a national trend. The turn out for women under 30 was 50% in 2024, with men under 30 showing 41% according to the Circle Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement. McNair said she thinks there is a reason behind the disparity.

“Women have not always had the right to vote; we’ve had to fight for so many of our rights. They have just not an automatically given to us, and that’s not true for all men, obviously, but most men have always been empowered to vote, and when you have to fight for something, you take it a little more seriously,” McNair said. “Women’s rights have been on the line a lot more in recent elections and, like, restricting abortion access and things that really directly impact a lot of women. So, I think those are all good motivating factors, and probably why you see higher rates turn out.”

Despite the gender gap, CSB+SJU are outperforming the national average, which sits at 47% for people under the age of 30. Minnesota was the state with the largest youth voter turnout in the country with 65%, garnering national attention, and drawing attention to how strict voting laws can impact voting accessibility.

“Some states make it really hard to vote, and Minnesota has great laws that make it really easy, really safe, and there’s no fraud with that,” McNair said.

CSB+SJU are also taking part in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge with 11 campuses in the MIAC competing to have the highest voter turnout. Across the country, 10,856,918 students at 1,065 institutions take part in the ALL IN Challenge. In 2020, St. John’s was awarded the Most Improved Voter Turnout Award for the MIAC voting challenge.

“We’ve done pretty well in the past, but we haven’t won the conference. St. Olaf has won it, so, we hope students get out to vote, this year especially, because we’re going after that number one trophy,” said Matt Lindstrom, a CSB+SJU political science professor and director of the McCarthy Center.

Absentee ballots became available for request on Sept. 18, in person early voting began Oct. 16 and will end Nov. 2 and the midterm Election Day is on Nov. 3. SJU students can vote in person at the Great Hall on the St. John’s campus, and CSB students can vote in person at the Alumnae Hall on the St. Ben’s campus.

“The CSB+SJU College Democrats believe that voter turnout is a crucial function of any democracy. With so many important issues on our ballots, it’s more important than ever that students exercise their civic duty and vote this November 3rd, which is why we have been partnering up with local and statewide candidates to door-knock across both campuses so students know who is on their ballot, ensure that they are registered to vote either on campus or at home, and are prepared for election day,” said junior Alayna Furman, the co-chair of the CSB+SJU College Democrats.

The CSB+SJU College Republicans did not respond for a request for comment at the time of publication.

In 2024, the CSB+SJU Votes Coalition developed and published their Voter Engagement Plan which detailed their renewed efforts to drive student turnout at the polls by emphasizing events that informed and fostered discussions about the importance of participating in all elections from the national level to the small-town communities.

“Especially in local elections, every vote counts. And it can really make a difference. You know? Yes, it is harder to feel as much of a change or a pull in big presidential elections or even statewide races,” McNair said. “But if you vote for your school board candidates, those come down to just a couple hundred votes sometimes, and that’s when every single vote really makes a difference.”