MU students contributing to higher-than-usual number of voter registrations
The younger voter demographic could play an integral part for this year's midterm election cycle. According to the Pew Research Center, younger generations of voters make up a majority of the electorate, but the younger demographic may not be the majority voters for this November.
Not only are younger adults less likely to participate in midterm elections, but Millennials and Generation X voters have a track record of low turnout in midterm elections compared with older generations when they were the same age.
This election year, students from Millikin University are contributing to a higher-than-usual number of voter registrations and early-voting ballots thanks to increased efforts around Millikin's campus.
Voter registration information for Macon County was recently released showing that more than 200 registrations have come in from Millikin, and the interest in voting has become higher around campus according to Julisa Sierra, a senior political science major.
"I feel like the higher interest is because of the political climate we're in," Sierra said in a recent interview with the Herald & Review.
Data from the Pew Research Center shows that since 2014, the number of voting-eligible Gen Xers, Millennials and post-Millennials has increased by 18 million. The bulk of it is due to the addition of 15 million adult post-Millennials (18 to 21 years old) who are now voting age.
As of April 2018, 59 percent of adults who are eligible to vote are Gen Xers, Millennials or post-Millennials. In the 2014 midterm election, the younger generations accounted for 53 percent of eligible voters but cast only 36 million votes – 21 million fewer than the Boomer, Silent and Greatest generations, who are ages 54 and older in 2018.
In September, Millikin students and faculty helped organize a weeklong voter registration drive on campus.
"Every single day we were running out of forms to fill out," said Megan Owens, a senior political science major and student senate president. "The response that we had was just awesome and it was great to make a difference in Millikin's community."
Dr. Laura Dean, assistant professor of political science at Millikin, said the Political Science Department is trying to raise money to provide vans for students to make it more convenient to get to the polls off campus, and send texts to students that promote early voting.
"The students will have to do the research themselves and they're less willing to do that sometimes," said Sierra. "We're trying to eliminate that by getting them the information they need so they're more inclined to vote."
Dr. Dean added, "We'll see what happens. It would be great if Millikin students could sway the election."