SE Arizona News

Cochise College issued the following announcement on Nov. 9.

Cochise College today reported that student voting increased in last year’s presidential election, rising to 41.8% in 2020 from a rate of 35.7% in 2016. Today’s report comes from the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE), creators of the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, or NSLVE. IDHE is located at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life.

“The report gives us good insightful information that our efforts to improve student voting had an impact,” said Andy Espinoza, Student Activities Manager at Cochise College. “We used social media and different online platforms to engage and encourage students to vote.”

Nationwide, the study’s authors report a record-breaking set of findings. On campuses across the country, students built on the momentum swing of 2018 and voted at high rates in the 2020 election, with voter turnout jumping to 66% in last year’s presidential election. The 14-percentage point increase, from 52% turnout in the 2016 election, outpaces that of all Americans, which jumped six 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 voting resources.”

Luis Carlos Estrada, former Student Government Association President and Civic Influencer received the Student Honor Roll Award. “We are very proud of Luis, who is now attending Northern Arizona University,” added Espinoza. “This award recognizes his leadership in helping college students improve nonpartisan civic learning, political engagement, and voter participation.”

IDHE’s National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE, pronounced n-solve) is the nation’s most extensive study of college and university student voting. Institutions must opt-in to the survey. 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.

Original source can be found here.