For Immediate Release: November 10th, 2022
Contact:
Nicholas Williams, Director of Penn Leads the Vote
pennleadsthevote@sas.upenn.edu | vote.upenn.edu
2022 SEES STRONG TURNOUT AMONG PENN STUDENTS, YOUTH VOTERS
Thousands of Penn students turned out at on-campus polling locations, while young people nationwide had their second highest turnout in a midterm election since 1994
When Election Day came on November 8, Penn students made sure to turn out to vote. 2,239 Penn students voted in on-campus polling locations located in Houston Hall, the ARCH building, and Civic House. This number does not represent the total number of Penn students who voted, since there are some mail-in and provisional ballots that have not been counted yet. In addition, students registered to vote in off-campus housing voted in off-campus precincts, while many students opted to vote in their home state.
Meanwhile, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University has released early projections on youth voter turnout for the 2022 midterm election. Based on the votes that have been counted as of November 10, CIRCLE estimates that 27% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 voted in the 2022 midterms. This turnout estimate represents the second-highest turnout rate among young people in a midterm election since 1994, trailing only behind 2018.
In 2018, turnout among students at the University of Pennsylvania was 54.7%, which was well above the nationwide youth turnout of roughly 28%. The data on Penn students’ turnout was compiled as part of the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, or NSLVE, by the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life. In addition to having projections on turnout for the 2022 midterms, Tufts also has extensive data on youth turnout in the 2020 presidential election, the 2018 midterm election, and the 2016 presidential election.
The strong turnout from Penn students comes amid the first nationwide election held since the University transitioned back to in-person classes in fall 2021. The 2020 presidential election saw far fewer students vote in person on Penn’s campus since most students were not allowed to live in on-campus housing in fall 2020. Both during remote learning and since students returned to campus, Penn Leads the Vote (PLTV) has supported student voting by registering students to vote, educating them, and supporting mail-in voting and efforts to turn out students on Election Day. For the November 2022 election, PLTV hosted a table outside of Houston Hall to make sure students knew their polling location and were ready to vote.
Penn Leads The Vote (PLTV) was established in 2004 and operated by Fox Leadership until 2014. PLTV was re-established in 2018 in the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. PLTV works in collaboration with the Office of Government and Community Affairs, which also oversees Penn’s institutional compliance with voter engagement requirements and on-campus polling location engagement. PLTV also receives funding from Fox Leadership.