The 2020 presidential election was an all-consuming campus issue, and college students voted at a record-setting rate. 66% of students cast ballots, up 14% from 2016. One year later, Virginia and New Jersey are hosting heated battles for their governor’s mansions, with the results being viewed as an early referendum on Joe Biden’s presidency and a foreshadowing of the Democratic Party’s fate in the 2022 midterms. And campus activists are facing the challenge of turning out the vote yet again. 
President Joe Biden stumps for Virginia's gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe.
“[College students] were heavily engaged last year,” said Mahiyah Sampson, a sophomore at Kean University and deputy executive director of the New Jersey Chapter of the College Democrats. “And some of them just kind of stopped. It’s a new school year, and they moved on. I know people who didn’t know there was an election going on in New Jersey. They were like, ‘Why are people telling me to vote? I thought I voted for president last year.’”
In New Jersey, the Rowan University College Democrats have resorted to rewards.
“We did an early voting day,” said Emily McGrath, a senior at Rowan and president of the New Jersey Chapter of the College Democrats. “We had free donuts, free pizza, and free coffee out on the student center back patio. We were able to engage with different students, give them a free donut if they committed to vote.” According to McGrath, early voting has been a point of emphasis for the College Democrats this year. “[It] just opens the door for folks who normally wouldn’t be able to engage in the civic process because everyone usually has classes on Tuesdays.”
Others have turned it into a game. At Princeton University, there is a secure ballot drop box on campus, but it is notoriously hard to find. Vote100, a non-partisan campaign to encourage civic engagement at Princeton sponsored by the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students had an event called “Boba at the Ballot Box,” which turned the difficulty into a challenge.
“It was like a little scavenger hunt where guys could find the ballot box and if they did, they took a picture with it and posted it on their social media to promote the location,” said Ana Blanco, a junior at Princeton and a Vote100 Fellow. In addition to this, Vote100 has provided a van to take students who wanted to vote early to the nearest polling place, and is planning to run a shuttle bus on the evening of Election Day.
