After 2020, These 3 Georgia Universities Are Working Overtime to Get Out the Vote

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The 2020 presidential election, and some of the events following it, was unlike any other in U.S. history—especially in Georgia, which flipped for Democrats for the first time in decades.

As the presidential election races ever closer, voter registration drives are ramping up. These efforts encourage as many people as possible to fulfill their civic duty and get out to the polls on November 5. One area that these groups specifically target is college campuses, where many would-be first-time voters can be found.

Recent election cycles have seen an uptick in the number of 18- to 24-year-olds registered to vote, including a 6 percent nationwide jump between 2018 and 2022. The number is even higher in battleground states, according to Civic Nation.

For this year’s election, Georgia—along with North Carolina—has the eighth most electoral college votes, 16, making it an important state to win on the journey to a 270 majority. The Peach State consistently voted for the Republican candidate in every presidential election from 1996 to 2016, but it shocked the nation four years ago when it turned blue with a 0.23 percent margin—the narrowest win in the country—for President Joe Biden.

These latest elections have also seen an increase in the number of registered young adults actually casting a ballot. In 2020, 66 percent of registered college students voted—a 14 percentage point increase from the 2016 election, according to the Washington Post.

Both the increase in registrations and in actual votes have been bolstered by get-out-the-vote initiatives on college campuses across the country, and Georgia is certainly no different. We took a look at how some universities across the state are encouraging students to vote this November.

Georgia College and State University

Research shows that in-class presentations by professors or other students increase both registration and, by a lesser margin, turnout for student voters. Claire Sanders, senior lecturer of political science and public administration at Georgia College and State University, has firsthand experience teaching students about the importance of elections. Sanders runs an election administration certificate—a unique opportunity not only for Georgia students, but a rare program across the country.

The certificate program allows students to explore how elections are facilitated and why they are important in our democracy. An internship requirement lets students take on roles in the field, such as being poll workers. Students can work an internship in election administration at the local, state, or federal level. According to Sanders, the program works with local governments to help set up the internships.

“The reason why we developed this election certificate program is to encourage public service in this area,” Sanders said. “Elections are probably the most critical public service that the government provides.”

GCSU founded their certificate this most recent academic year, and has about ten students, according to Sanders. But the university has a strong track record of students turning out to vote.

In 2022, GCSU was named a “most engaged campus” for student voting by Civic Nation’s ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. According to the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, more than 76 percent of GCSU students voted in the 2020 presidential election, surpassing the 66 percent national average.

“It’s important that students understand the issues of equality and voting rights and the history of past legalized discrimination in voting, why we have the voting laws that we have now,” Sanders said.

GCSU also hosts other initiatives to encourage student involvement in the democratic process. Sanders and her colleague, Professor Jan Hoffman, host weekly talks with students covering various current events. While Sanders is more involved with the election administration certificate, Hoffman serves as the campus’ American Democracy Project coordinator and works to help students register to vote.

University of Georgia

Hunter Leon, president of the Conservative Student Union at the University of Georgia, said it is important for college students to fulfill their civic duty to get educated and vote in honor of the fact that it is an opportunity not available to everyone.

CSU, a nonpartisan conservative student club, hosts discussions on a variety of political topics to allow students to form their opinions and hear from others.

“I think people being exposed to different ideas from all sorts of students is important to be able to form their own opinion,” Leon said.

Every election year, CSU tables on campus to help students register to vote. But they aren’t the only group that can be found doing so. In fact, not all tablers are even UGA students.

Indivisible GA 10, a chapter of the pro-democracy grassroots group Indivisible, can frequently be spotted encouraging students to get registered, cast their vote, and be involved in holding elected officials accountable, according to its website. The group is based in Georgia’s Tenth District, which includes Athens—where UGA is located—and is made up of community members of all ages, races, and genders.

Their goals include efforts to “increase voter turnout, end voter suppression, improve election integrity, accomplish fair redistricting results, and ensure all Georgians have the same opportunities to thrive regardless of race, gender, sexual preference, or belief.”

Georgia Tech

The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is located in the state capital, Atlanta, right at the heart of Fulton County, which helped to flip the state in the 2020 election.

Georgia Tech has multiple resources to encourage students to get involved with the democratic process. Its VoterTech website has an all-in-one guide with information about how to register and the deadline, where to vote, how to vote by mail, how to request an absentee ballot, and more. VoterTech is a nonpartisan voting information hub that “investigates factors that affect voter turnout among college students.” The project lasted from the 2020 to 2022 election cycles, according to Georgia Tech associate professor Richard Barke, but much of the information is still relevant today.

The campus also has a chapter of Voters of Tomorrow (VOT@GT), “a nonpartisan, pro-democracy organization that seeks to educate, mobilize, and represent our generation of voters.” Alexa Bowman Olay, who currently serves as president, founded the chapter during the fall 2022 semester, ahead of the midterm elections.

Bowman Olay is passionate about encouraging young people to vote, regardless of their political beliefs, and countering the notion that an individual’s vote doesn’t matter. Being politically active can be time consuming, but voting is an easy way to get involved, she said.

“Our main goal is to really encourage our generation to be politically involved in whatever way or whatever capacity they feel comfortable in,” Bowman Olay said.

VOT@GT works to provide access to information and resources for in-state and out-of-state Georgia Tech students, like tabling at events and hosting a meeting with a Gen Z state senate candidate.

“You’re never too young”

An increase in student voter turnout can have widespread impacts. Taking advantage of their power as citizens in a democracy will give these young adults a say in how issues they care about are handled at a local, state and national scale. When politicians realize the power of appealing to the younger demographic, issues that matter to them, such as student debt, are more likely to get attention.

“A lot of people … don’t have time to go and be politically active, to go and protest, to go to their local senators and talk to them,” Bowman Olay said. “And so even something as small as going out to vote is still doing something.”

If young voters turn out en masse, they can start to see their generation be represented in the legislature. Congress is full of Baby Boomers. If young voters register to vote—and show up to the polls—they can make their voices heard and put more Millennial and Gen Z lawmakers where they can make a difference.

“You’re never too young,” Leon said. “Every voice matters.”

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