Voting at Stockton

 

We're excited to share Stockton’s reports from the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE). These reports provide information about Stockton students’ registration and turnout rates in recent presidential and midterm elections, including estimates of overall registration and turnout levels as well as estimates broken down by several student demographic characteristics.

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Stockton Student Participation in Presidential Election Years

Voter registration and turnout rates among Stockton students have increased in recent presidential election years. You can view the full report on 2012 and 2016 participation here and the full report on 2020 participation here--here are some highlights: 

  • Stockton’s voter registration rate went from 78.8% in 2016 to 85.8% in 2020, up 7 percentage points

  • The overall voting rate of all students went up from 50.9% in 2016 to 73.5% in 2020, an increase of 22.6 percentage points
    • Stockton’s 73.5% turnout rate in 2020 is more than 7 points higher than all institutions (66%)
  • Young voters at Stockton turned out at much higher rates in 2020 compared to 2016.
    • 72% of 18-21-year-olds voted in 2020, compared to only 45% of this age group voting in 2016. 
    • 75% of 22-24-year-olds voted in 2020, compared to only 54% of this age group voting in 2016.
  • Widespread mail-in voting in the state in 2020 likely boosted Stockton students' turnout. 94% of our students voted not in person (most likely by mail), a substantial change from past elections where the vast majority of our students voted in person. 

Stockton Student Participation in Midterm Election Years

Though midterm election years typically see lower voter engagement, Stockton students' midterm voter registration and turnout rates increased substantially in the 2018 election. You can view the full report on 2014 and 2018 participation here--here are some highlights:  

  • Stockton’s voter registration rate went from 68.4% in 2014 to 81.0% in 2018, up 12.6 percentage points
  • 44.5% of registered Stockton students voted in 2018, up from 20.5% in 2014, representing a 24 percentage point increase over 2014 registered voter turnout levels
  • The overall voting rate of all students went up from 14.0% in 2014 to 36.1% in 2018, an increase of 22.1 percentage points
    • Stockton’s 36.1% turnout rate in 2018 is just 3 points below all other institutions (39.1%). In 2014, Stockton’s voting rate was 5.7 points less than all institutions.
  • An increasing number of students cast their ballot by mail
  • The older the student, the more likely they were to vote. But in 2018 turnout was up among all age groups compared to the 2014 midterms