Files
Download Full Text (611.0 MB)
Publication Date
Summer 2025
Digital Publisher
Digital Commons at St. Mary's University
Collection
McNair Scholars Symposium
Keywords
Young voters, Young college voters, Youth vote, Youth voter turnout, Student voting behavior, Voter disengagement, Voting barriers, Voter accessibility, Civic engagement, American National Election Studies (ANES)
Description
Even though college aged students are one of the largest elibible voting blocks within the United States, students have in the past demonstrated low voter turnout in elections. This study aims to explore what the underlying causes of this phenomenon are through asking: Why are college aged students not voting? Through this, it is specifically investigated if voter disengagement stems from a sense of political apathy or rather from issues regarding accessibility. Using data from the American Nation Election Studies (ANES) database, responses from individuals aged 18 to 26 are analyzed in order to assess the relatiuonship between different barriers that may be contributing to a lack of electoral participation. To determine whether there are statistically significant relationships present between these multifaceted factors and the voting behavior of young adults, chi-square tests of independence will be employed. The primary goals of this study is to clarify is the present disengagement and offer a more nuanced understanding of voting behavior of young college aged individuals. Findings from this statistical analysis aim to inform future outreach and civic engagement promotion among universities to better support and increase participation in young voters.
Disciplines
American Politics | Civic and Community Engagement | Demography, Population, and Ecology | Politics and Social Change | Social Statistics
Format
MOV
Medium
Video
Size or Duration
17 minutes 12 seconds
City
San Antonio, Texas
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
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