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Democrats delivered an upset to Republicans over the weekend, clinching a victory in the Nevada Senate race in order to maintain their narrow control of the chamber for at least the next two years.
Election victories, like those of incumbent Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Mark Kelly of Arizona, were fueled in part by young voters, including on college campuses in key battleground states, where students organized and campaigned to get other young voters to the polls on Nov. 8.
“I think myself and others really felt that this time, that, like, this is kind of a make or break moment,” said Central Michigan University senior Katie Ellison.
“Overall, I think it was a little bit surprising, right,” Ellison said. “The red wave that wasn’t.”
Early estimates suggest that midterm turnout among people under 30 was the second highest it’s been in three decades, outpaced only by 2018 — the election after Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential win.
“I’m just filled with a really big sense of pride and fulfillment that our turnout numbers are high, and that young people – especially in Michigan, but all over the country – are really turning out, showing out and speaking their voices really loudly about how they want this country to look,” Ellison said.
About 27% of eligible Americans between the ages of 18-29 cast a ballot this year, according to early estimates from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University.
While this is still comparatively lower than other generational groups, the youth vote did not drop off, as Democrats had feared would happen. The youth voters’ share of the electorate was 12%, similar to what it’s been in past elections. They also voted for Democrats in slightly lower margins this year than in 2018.
But turnout in competitive swing states, the research found, was even higher at about 31% – the same rate of youth turnout in the watermark 2018 election.
“Outreach, contact, investment in these states was higher,” said CIRCLE deputy director Abby Kiesa. “So it’s not surprising that voter turnout is higher in these states.”
Student voters interviewed by NPR organized voter registration drives, lobbied for polling locations on campus and helped educate fellow students on their right to vote. Their efforts were funded by the nonpartisan MTV Social Impact Team.
“A lot of us are just uneducated on what to do to actually get to the polls,” said Emory University graduate student Mickel Standifer. “And then, you have the accessibility barrier, you know some people don’t have vehicles or access to shuttles.”
Research conducted by students at the Duke University Master in Interdisciplinary Data Science program found that in 2020, 76% of colleges did not have in-person Election Day voting options, and 74% of colleges had no in-person voting options at all.
Standifer was part of a group of…
Read More: College students helped play a role in the midterm election. : NPR