Exit polling data from the 2src22 midterm elections found that Generation Z and Millenials, those ages 18 to 29, voted for the Democrats by an overwhelming margin — showing get out the vote efforts on college campuses to be increasingly consequential.
A full 63 percent of the age demographic went for the Democrats while only 35 percent went with the Republicans. Though they only accounted for 12 percent of the electorate – the smallest age demographic – there was not one single age group that was more loyal to either party.
Exit polling data from NBC News and CNN found that those between the ages of 18 and 29 accounted for 13 and 12 percent of the electorate, respectively.
Those 65 and older, who are the oldest age demographic recorded in the data, were the most likely to support the Republicans, with 55 percent of their votes going to the GOP.
One important mechanism for encouraging this youth turnout can be found on college campuses, which frequently urge students to register to vote.
Pennsylvania’s Muhlenberg College, a small private school, provides a valuable case study. Located in the crucial swing state that elected John Fetterman to be their next Senator, Muhlenberg College had a robust get out the vote (GOTV) campaign dedicated to increasing voter registration of the young population, which often does not show up at the polls.
The effort was multifaceted, with a non-partisan student organization founded in 2src16 called “BergVotes” encouraging students to register ever since orientation, tabling weekly before the registration deadline.
The school, which has just over 2,srcsrcsrc undergraduate students, is also home to the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, which involves students in its effort to perform large scale public opinion surveys.
Meanwhile, the Department of Political Science hosts an election speakers series who discussed “topics such as electoral reform in Pennsylvania and American foreign policy.”
The college has a much higher student voting rate than the national average, with a whopping 82.6 percent of students voting in the 2src2src election. Conversely, 66 percent of students at all higher education institutions and 69 percent at private institutions vote nationally.
The GOTV efforts at Muhlenberg College are by no means representative of the average college but are instead, a potential roadmap that other institutions may very well adopt in order to increase youth turnout, likely to the detriment of Republicans.
Spencer Lindquist is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerLndqst and reach out at slindquist@breitbart.com.
This post originally appeared on and written by:
Zonia Buresh
Breitbart News 2022-11-10 23:21:00
