Texas A&M University blends creative promotion with technology to increase undergraduate voter turnout by 47%.
The right to vote is foundational for a representative government. That representation for Texas A&M University students was threatened by a declining number of students who exercised that right. The percentage of undergraduate students voting in student body elections dropped by 53% from 2017 to 2021.
How do you turn the tide to engage thousands of students? How do you reverse the trend of voter participation rates steadily dropping each year?
That was the challenge facing Cara Maxwell, a business honors and management student. As the Student Government Association (SGA) election commissioner, Cara is charged with ensuring a fair and efficient election process for approximately 100 representative student leader positions across campus. These include the student body president, yell leaders, presidents of class councils and the Residence Hall Association, Honors Student Council leaders, and 80 SGA senators.
Cara Maxwell announces election results.
Cara had an advantage over her predecessors who typically took on the role in their junior or senior year. For all new election commissioners, “It’s really difficult to come into the position with the experience needed to run the election. You focus on helping the team understand the administrative aspects,” she said. But starting in the position as a sophomore gave her an additional year of opportunity. Now a junior, she says, “In the second year I was able to come in with a better grasp of the timeline and what is needed. That preparation allowed me and returning team members to start the year with opportunities to better define a vision to grow the elections and promote them.”
It was easy to attribute low voter turnout in 2021 to the dual challenges of virtual campaigning during a pandemic and a severe winter storm that effectively shut down campaigning less than two weeks before the election. However, there is no comparable explanation for turnout dropping the year before while the university was still operating fully in person. Turnout that year was down more than 31% from the previous year.
The election commission conducted a survey to understand why students do not vote. One common reason is that students do not know who to vote for unless they have a friend who is running for office. They want to vote for someone they feel will represent them well. This year, instead of preparing a guide of only student body president and yell leader candidates, a comprehensive guide was prepared with every candidate for every position on the ballot. The commission also hosted the annual student body president and yell leader candidate forums in the Memorial Student Center.
The other top reason students do not vote is that they do not know an election is happening. The commission worked with Gig The Vote to help promote the forums and the election. Gig The Vote is a nonpartisan SGA initiative to encourage Aggies to register to vote in Brazos County.
Still, they knew they must do more to incentivize voters. Cara reached out to Technology Services – Student Affairs to see what technical options might exist. Technology Services – Student Affairs is an established business partner that provides the online voting platform for SGA elections, assists in tallying results, and verifies election system integrity.
A personalized “I Voted” sticker is used to get rewards.
The result was a digital equivalent to the popular “I Voted” sticker often offered to voters in state and national elections. The enhanced SGA voting system now displays a personalized digital sticker when a voter submits their ballot. An email is also sent to the voter with a link to the sticker suggesting they post it with a tag on social media to encourage other Aggies to vote as well. The sticker that bears their name can be easily retrieved on a mobile device to serve as a ticket for free food, merchandise, and more at an election celebration hosted on the Kyle Field Plaza in advance of the announcement of winners.
Was it enough? The commission’s goal was to surpass 10,000 voters, an increase of 18% over last year.
The final vote count far exceeded the goal. By all standards the initiative was a great success as 12,630 ballots were cast. Undergraduate, graduate, and professional students are all eligible to vote in the elections. The percentage of undergraduates participating rose by 47%. A decade of election data shows this is the first time new voters have outnumbered returning voters.
That was no accident. Highly visible controversy tends to attract voters. There was none of that. “The personalized sticker made a substantive difference,” said Cara. “Not only was there was positive response to the graphic, but it could also be used in a real positive way at the celebration event. We absolutely want to do this again. It made the election more tangible. It made it feel more legitimate. It provided gratification for voters to return next time.”
Voters will return next year, but the push will continue to engage new voters. Technology Services – Student Affairs will be there to help.
About her experience working with DoIT, Cara said, “I loved the collaborative conversations. I knew I could bring ideas that would be amplified by the experience Technology Services – Student Affairs has to be much more impactful than I could imagine.” Fresh ideas are already being considered for the future. Reversing the trend to improve civic engagement helps fulfill the Texas A&M mission that includes preparing students to assume roles in leadership, responsibility and service to society.
If you want to turn the tide, you need to shoot for the moon. The SGA Election Commission’s objective in partnership with Technology Services – Student Affairs was a moonshot, but it was a total success.
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For more information about the Spring 2022 election results, read the article, “Texas A&M Students Elect New Student Body President, Yell Leaders, Other Key Student Leaders”
