Chloe Barrett
Associate News Editor
Millersville University students have more college students voting in elections than the national average. According to Washington Monthly in Sept. 2019, Millersville had been identified as one of the 80 best colleges for student voting.
According to Millersville News, Lori Leaman, executive assistant and events coordinator for the Walker Center, a student-run future civic and community leaders organization said, “I’m glad that they’re engaging in our democracy, and I love hearing about what really matters to them, and what we can do to further educate and support them”
Millersville was one of three Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) schools to be listed within the report. The other two schools being California University (located in PA) and Kutztown University.
According to the Washington Monthly and Millersville News, these institutions were graded on a five-point scale.
According to NLSVE data, Millersville had a 41.7 voting rate within the 2018 mid-terms. That is four percentage points higher than the national average.
When asked about how they felt about Millersville being higher than the national average, student Sam Ferguson said, “I wasn’t aware of this statistic, but it makes me hopeful for our future. I am really glad to be surrounded by peers and a community who are willing to use their political power to incite change. Not everyone believes that voting can make a difference, but this number is an indication that people do care about the future and are concerned about the current political state of this country.”
As said in Millersville News, 35% of Millersville students ages 18 to 21 voted in the 2018 mid-term elections, compared to 9.9% in 2014.
The next general election in Pennsylvania is Nov. 5, 2019, and polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
