Midterm Elections Voter Participation Seriously Increased at These Colleges Across the Country

If you’ve been keeping up with the results of yesterday’s midterm elections (which you should be!), you know that there are a lot of takeaways so far: Democrats passed the 218-seat threshold to take control of the House, Republicans maintained their hold on the Senate, and a record number of women were elected into office. But women weren’t the only winners in yesterday’s elections—so were young people.

Prior to yesterday’s vote, research confirmed that millennials (there defined as people between the ages of 18 and 35) held the power to rival Baby Boomers as the country’s most decisive political force—if they actually showed up to vote. And until now, that was still a big “if.” With historically low youth voter turnout rates, especially for midterm elections, older generations of Americans have maintained their deciding power in the most recent midterm and presidential elections. Just four years ago, youth voter turnout for the 2014 midterms was the lowest recorded in 40 years, with less than 20 percent of voters between the ages of 18 and 29 showing up to the polls.

In the months and weeks leading up to yesterday’s midterms, we knew that young people in America were the largest eligible voting bloc in the nation. What we didn’t know, and what no exit poll or media interview could accurately predict, was whether or not enough of them would show up to actually make a real difference.

This year, we can report, numbers from youth-dense precincts at colleges and universities around the country show that young people turned out to cast their ballots in far greater numbers than in 2014, according to data recorded by NextGen America. To gauge youth turnout at yesterday’s polls, NextGen monitored 41 collegiate voting precincts (in which more than half of all registered voters were millennials) and compared the number of raw votes to those cast in the 2014 midterms. We’ll know more specifics about youth voter turnout over the coming weeks, but these early numbers may indicate signs of a youth wave in American politics.

Here’s what we know so far; Compared to the 2014 midterms, these precincts from 18 colleges and universities around the country seriously increased their voter participation rates at yesterday’s polls:

In Michigan, which also became the 10th U.S. state to vote to legalize recreational marijuana use, students at Michigan State University increased their turnout rates from 13% in ‘14 to more than 50% in a key battleground district. Similarly, more than three times as many Wolverines from the University of Michigan turned out to vote than four years ago. Student voters from Wayne State University also more than doubled their turnout rates.

In Arizona, the number of young voters at Arizona State and the University of Arizona polling grounds at least doubled. At Northern Arizona University (a historically very liberal school) student ballots cast increased three times over 2014 levels.

In California, students at UC Irvine upped their turnout rate from just 2% in 2014 to 31% at yesterday’s polls. Students at UC San Diego showed up at an impressive 78% turnout rate yesterday, compared to just 13% four years ago. Voter turnout rates at a precinct near Stanislaus State University rose to an amazing 126%, up from just 25% in 2014.

In Virginia, students at the University of Virginia nearly quadrupled their 2014 voter turnout rates. Students from the College of William and Mary also increased their turnout rate to 62%, up from 37% at the last midterm election.

In Florida, voter turnout at historically black colleges and universities was way up compared to 2014: At Florida A&M, voter turnout rates nearly doubled, with 60% showing up to vote yesterday, compared to 33% in 2014. A similar pattern unfolded among student voters from the University of Central Florida, with a nearly 60% turnout rate yesterday, compared to 33% in 2014.

In Nevada, students from the University of Nevada, Reno, doubled their voter turnout rate from the last midterm election.

In Pennsylvania, students at Penn State jumped from just 5% turnout in 2014 to 33% yesterday. Students at the University of Pittsburgh increased their voter turnout rate three-and-a-half times over from ’14 levels.

In Iowa, students at the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Iowa more than doubled their 2014 turnout rates.

This increase in youth voter turnout at collegiate polls throughout the country is an amazing accomplishment, but if the 2016 presidential election taught us anything, it’s that voting is just the beginning.

Related: Women Won in Record-Breaking Numbers in the 2018 Midterms