Matthew Weil (Left), director of the Bipartisan Policy Center Elections Project, speaks with Nancy Thomas (right), director of the National Study of Learning and Voting and Engagement during a Thursday webinar. Stephanie Lam/ Spartan Daily.
Directors from the Bipartisan Policy Center, a policy research institute based in Washington D.C., hosted a webinar Thursday encouraging college students to vote in the November 2020 elections.
The “2020 Elections Come to Campus: Student Leadership and Civic Engagement” event was held over Zoom and was free through the Bipartisan Policy Center website.
Matthew Weil, the director of the Bipartisan Policy Center Elections Project and one of the moderators, said during the webinar that students often get a “bad reputation” for not participating in elections.
“We know that student voters face some of the highest barriers to voting than any members of the electorate,” Weil said. “Being young and being new to the [voting] process is [one] barrier.”
The Bipartisan Policy Center analyzes and promotes policies in areas including health, education and governance to “promote civic literacy and voter turnout” in college communities, according to its webpage.
San Jose State alumnus Domingo Juan, who graduated with a political science bachelor’s degree, said students should follow the Bipartisan Policy Center’s latest coverage on the elections.
“Educate yourself, fully immerse yourself in the [election process],” Juan said over the phone. “Vote for your principles before you vote for your policy preference.”
Juan previously worked at the Bipartisan Policy Center as an administrative assistant for the Democracy Project, which publishes government reports about congressional and electoral reforms.
Juan said he was not involved with the webinar’s planning or preparation, however, he worked closely with Weil.
Marketing junior Lea Fisher said in an Instagram video chat with the Spartan Daily that she plans to vote in the elections.
“[Voting is] one of the easiest ways to participate in politics,” Fisher said. “It’s ridiculous to not exercise that right.”
Fisher said she noticed more college-aged students actively researching and voting in general elections.
While she said she noticed Bipartisan Policy Center on social media as well, she did not attend the webinar.
A 2018 report published by researchers at the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, a democracy research institute based in the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University, stated that the percentage of college students showing up to vote is steadily increasing. About 19% of college students voted in the 2014 elections, which increased to 40% in 2018.
The national student turnout rate rose from 65% in 2014 to 73% in 2018.
According to the report, any voter between 18-24 years old is considered a college student.
The institute’s members collect and study data on voter registration and turnout in which any U.S. university or college can submit their students’ voter information for evaluation. SJSU is a participating campus.
Nancy Thomas, director of the research institute, said during the webinar that distance learning has made it challenging for colleges to motivate their students to vote. She said students can’t have face-to-face discussions with their professors and peers on the importance of voting and can’t access the polls if they live off campus.
“Voting is a social act,” Thomas said. “If students are forced to be physically distant from each other, then that is a difficult thing to do.”
But she said the report findings should remind students that they play an integral role in “changing the status quo.” She added that students have a duty as citizens to hold elected officials accountable for their policies and actions.
“It’s important for [students] to know that if they don’t vote, they’re invisible,” Thomas said during the webinar. “Elected officials do not listen to or care about non-voters.”