In the final days of Arizona’s perpetual summer, dozens of voter registration groups are set up on Arizona State University’s campuses amid the lingering heat. Some offer agua frescas on hot days, some give out free stickers and merch, but all have the same goal: to get students registered to vote.
Alberto Plantillas, the central regional director of the Arizona Students Association, has spent this election cycle trying to get students registered to vote. According to Plantillas, on an average day, up to four different groups of students would be tabling at once. Groups would also walk around with clipboards for a more direct approach.
“It’s a very oversaturated market for sure,” Plantillas said, “It’s harder for us to reach our goals but it's good in general because more people are getting registered.”
College students have been known to have low voter turnout, but things may be changing. 66 percent of registered college students had voted in the 2020 election, according to the Washington Post. This was an increase of 14 percentage points compared to the 2016 presidential election.
Thom Reilly, co-director of the Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy (CISD) at ASU, said that this is a new pattern emerging in this new generation of voters nationwide.
“If they voted at the same rate as their boomer counterparts, they would have a huge impact,” Reilly said.
CISD aims to provide research into topics surrounding American democracy, according to its website. After surveying more than 1,300 registered voters in Arizona, they found that 90 percent of participants were most concerned about the cost of living, and 86 percent were concerned about affordable housing.
Plantillas said that he sees the economic pressures that students face, and how it shows in the topics they care about in the upcoming election.
“A lot of older people are not in this environment where they have to deal with the affordability crisis,” Plantillas said. “Students might vote for one person or another because they think that they will alleviate their troubles, regardless of party.”
CISD highlights that Arizona Gen Z voters are distinctly independent with 49 percent of voters surveyed registered as independent. The survey also shows that Gen Z voters feel a disconnect between their values and those who represent them. Regardless, 66 percent of registered Gen Z voters intend to vote in the 2024 election.
“With these younger voters they seem to be really politically engaged,” Reilly said, “Not in the parties, but in the issues.”
For ASA, getting students registered to vote by Oct. 5 was only one part of the equation. Now, according to Plantillas, it's all about keeping students informed on what they are voting for. ASA isn’t alone in this. The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) at ASU is actively working on fostering civic engagement across the four major campuses.
Katie Ritchie, the director of government affairs at USG downtown, said that there’s still a lot to do before the election.
“Having such a long ballot can feel intimidating to new voters,” Ritchie said. “We are able to help ease that nervousness and anxiety by providing relevant and timely information.”
Ritchie said that USG will continue tabling across ASU’s campuses, with more information regarding the election. Plantillas and ASA are organizing a “Know Your Ballot” event for students to better understand what will be on the ballot in this election. The event will be held Oct. 30 in the Memorial Union on ASU’s Tempe campus.