Historical Election Characterized by Low Student Turnout

Author: Dan Polifka

In last Tuesday's national elections, which marked a historic return to Republican leadership on Capitol Hill, under 28 percent of Middlebury students exercised their constitutional right to vote, according to a Middlebury Campus poll. This figure is lower than the national average (39 percent,) Vermont average (70 percent) and national student average (33 percent.)
The elections of Nov. 5 were generally acknowledged to be of great importance, especially for a mid-term election. With the Democratic and Republican parties previously splitting control of both houses of Congress nearly evenly, control of Congress and hence major domestic and international policymaking power were decided at the polls.
There were many issues on the line last Tuesday. First and foremost, President George W. Bush has seemingly won a mandate to pursue a hard-line policy against Iraq, as some political analysts argue, particularly with the passage of last week's United Nations resolution. In addition, a new Homeland Security Bill could be passed as early as this week.
Republicans now hold a five seat edge in the Senate, with two races undecided — both expected to go to the Democrats — and a 22-seat advantage in the House of Representatives, with four undecided. The new Congress should give Bush an opportunity to pass tax cuts and other domestic legislation that had been previously difficult to get through in a roughly divided Congress. Likewise, Bush should be able to replace Supreme Court justices that retire with more politically conservative judges. According to Professor of Political Science Eric Davis, "The results of last week's elections will have consequences in many domestic policy areas — future Supreme Court nominations, the future of reproductive rights, environmental issues such as oil drilling on the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge —that many students care deeply about."
It is curious, therefore, that so many Middlebury students did not vote.
The reason for the lack of turnout is complex. The Campus' poll, which polled only U.S. citizens, revealed that 143 of the 207 that did not vote selected "other" as the reason for not voting. However, several of these students wrote in that they had difficulties attaining an absentee ballot or were lazy.
Of the remaining 64 non-voters, 48 percent said that registering was too difficult. Drew Pugsley '04, head of the College Republicans, explained that, "particularly in some states, getting an absentee ballot is a big hassle."
"Middlebury students are relatively isolated from the national media … [and] students are very busy," noted Davis, responding to the statistic showing that 27 percent of non-voters are not interested enough in politics, or consider themselves too uninformed to vote. He claimed that students, other than those required to for classes, generally do not read newspapers or follow the news.
"It's true, I really don't have enough time to read the paper and keep up with the issues," said Niall Sullivan '06, who did not vote.
Considering the weight of the elections, the particularly low student turnout is an issue of concern. Pugsley remarked "28 percent, that bothers me," despite being satisfied with the sweeping Republican victory.
Another theory is that politicians do not cater to the needs of students. According to Campus columnist Fahim Ahmed '03, "It is incumbent upon the candidates to give the voters 'a reason to vote,'" which he suggested was not done with students. Many issues that are often important to student voters, such as the job market and the environment, were for the most part left on the back burner this year, despite the Democrats' claim that they were running a campaign based on the economy.
One issue at the front of this year's elections was relations toward Iraq, a subject many Middlebury students voiced strong opinions on at the recent Ari Fleischer lecture. If that protest was indicative of student sentiment, it would seem students at Middlebury would be especially compelled to vote Democratic.
Although the poll shows the campus to be 46 percent Democrat, with 41 percent claiming to be unaffiliated or tied to a third party, the Democrats did not capitalize on their numbers, as nearly 40 percent of Republicans on campus voted as compared to 34 percent of Democrats.
Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Marc Garcelon attributed this to the Democratic party's failures, "from its inept and contemptible acquiescence to Bush's war resolution in October, to its failure to articulate a powerful critique of corporate corruption, to its inability to articulate what in fact the party stands for on a national level."
According to Garcelon, Democrats were "playing right into Republican hands — who consistently do better in elections with low voter turnouts." [See Garcelon's op-ed on the elections, page 21.]
While these are all compelling reasons for low student voter turnout, they do not explain why Middlebury students voted at a rate 5 percentage points lower than the national student average of 33 percent. Since Middlebury is widely acknowledged to be one of the most prestigious colleges in the country, it would seem to figure that students would be more informed and thus more likely to vote.
Ben LaBolt '03, president of the College Democrats, considered the fact that the College is in Vermont to be a key to understanding the student political situation. He maintained that "people actually do care and talk about issues … Many people who are involved are to a large extent involved more in community service than politically."
It is also possible that many voters do not feel that they need to vote, particularly considering the difficulty for those who act late to get absentee ballots. Many Middlebury students are from states that did not have close elections, the bulk of which came outside of the Northeast.
However, general student apathy towards the political system, be it out of laziness, the difficulty of participation or a lack of means for average students to be involved, seems to be a major contributor to low political activism on campus.
Both Pugsley and LaBolt claimed their organizations have around 45 members, although only 10 in each are fully active.
The result is, as Professor of Political Science David Rosenberg put it, "student interest would be higher if student issues were addressed by political representatives."
Given the Democrats' slide last week, it is likely that a restructuring of the party will occur sometime between now and 2004, when Bush will be up for reelection, a race many claim is, as of now, still very much up in the air despite his high approval ratings.
This shift would probably focus around the Democrats trying to get back in touch with its issues and constituents, such as the students at a school like Middlebury, where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly three to one.