November 30, 2021

Nearly 75% of SU Students Participated in 2020 Election

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge awarded Susquehanna University with the 2021 Most Improved Voter Turnout - Four-year Award as a part of the Pennsylvania Campus Voting Challenge. There are currently 19 states participating in the ALL IN State Voting Challenges, encompassing more than 426 institutions enrolling 4.3 million students.

Additionally, Susquehanna earned a Gold Seal from ALL IN as a campus with 70%–79% voter participation or higher in the 2020 presidential election.

The 2020 election cycle saw unprecedented voter registration and turnout among college students according to the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, a research study of the Institute for Democracy in Higher Education at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University. NSLVE reported that 66% of college students voted in the 2020 elections, a 14-point increase from 2016. Data provided by IDHE shows Susquehanna’s voting rate increased by 28 points to 74.7% in 2020, nearly 9 points above the national rate.

As part of Susquehanna’s effort to engage students in the democratic process, the university launched Achieve. Lead. Vote!, a nonpartisan initiative that expands upon the university’s mission and values of the university’s motto, “Achieve. Lead. Serve.” Achieve. Lead. Vote! seeks to streamline, demystify and educate students on ballot issues, and election and voting processes at all levels.

To bolster these efforts, Susquehanna became a member of the Pennsylvania Student Voting Coalition, a nonpartisan, student and professional network representing various institutions of higher education across the state. PASVC members are focused on driving student voter education, registration and turnout rates at their respective institutions.

Earlier this year, Susquehanna was designated as a Voter Friendly Campus by the Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project and NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is a national, nonpartisan initiative of Civic Nation, a nonprofit organization. Through programming that provides structure, support and recognition, ALL IN strengthens college and university efforts to improve civic learning, political engagement and voter registration and participation.