Campus Connection

UWL students once again turn out in large numbers on election day

UW-La Crosse students turned out to vote in higher numbers than any other La Crosse city ward during last week’s election. In Ward 8, a district predominantly made up of UWL students, 2,652 people cast ballots — the highest turnout of any ward in the city of La Crosse. Since all wards have approximately the same total number of people, such a high voter turnout speaks to UWL’s engaged campus, notes Joe Heim, UWL professor emeritus and university legislative liaison. Heim credits UWL student get-out-the-vote campaigns led by student political groups and the UWL Student Association. The UWL Student Association hosted two voter registration drives with the League of Women Voters of La Crosse and also sent emails the study body with step-by-step voting instructions, notes Jacob Schimmel, president of the UWL Student Association. He says the voter education efforts clearly helped ease the process as “way more students were in the voting line than the registration line” on election day. Many members of the Student Association helped register students on election day, which ensured the lines were never too long, he adds. Schimmel says the organization does this work because it is dedicated to ensuring the student voice is heard. "Voting is a vital part of that process and getting students to cast their ballots is needed so that we can influence how our country is run,” he says. “Unfortunately, younger folks turn out to vote the least among other age demographics, and this needs to change. I'm extremely proud of the efforts made to turn out students to vote on our campus.” UWL’s history of strong voter turnout The strong turnout on campus is consistent with past elections, particularly in presidential election years, says Heim. On-campus voter turnout was up slightly compared to the 2012 and 2008 presidential elections. In 2008, 2,000 people cast ballots. In 2012, 2,037 cast ballots. On-campus voter turnout typically reaches nearly 70 percent. Calculating this election’s percentage turnout is difficult due to an imprecise total on-campus resident population, which shifts from year to year. Results for Ward 8 in major races: President Hillary Clinton: 1,436 votes Donald Trump: 928 votes Gary Johnson: 191 Jill Stein: 52 Others: 45 U.S. Senate Ron Johnson: 1,138 Russ Feingold: 1,296 State Senate Jennifer Shilling: 1,326 Dan Kapanke: 1,062 Chip DeNur: 34