Big jumps in TWU student voting rates

Oct. 29, 2021 — DENTON — Texas Woman’s University students’ 2020 voting rates have increased significantly in the last four years according to information released this week by the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education.

According to IDHE’s 2020 National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement Campus Report, TWU’s average voting rating in 2016 was 53%, but in 2020, that engagement rate increased to 66.9%--an increase of 15.7%. 

While part of the increase may be attributed to the contentious 2020 presidential election, the university has also made civic engagement a priority in recent years and actively hosts voter registration events as well as other activities that serve to encourage the student voice on campus.

“Our Civic Engagement Task Force includes broad representation from our campus community and actively works to make sure that students are informed about elections and the issues,” said Dr. Stephanie Krauth, who serves as associate vice president for student engagement and currently chairs the task force.

Recently, the task force hosted “Make a Sign, Stake a Sign” event in conjunction with Constitution Day to promote free speech that was considered very successful. Plans are underway to host a similar event in the spring semester as well as events during Women’s History Month in March. 

Hosting events that promote opportunities for students to express their positions as well as working with faculty to provide access to things like the November 2021 Voter Guide (pdf), presented by the TWU 2023 Texas Government Students, help to build awareness of issues and ensure students know about and exercise their rights.

In addition to increased overall voting rates, the NSLVE data showed that TWU improved in all measures, including voter registration rate and yield rate, which measures the percentage of students who actually voted. TWU was also slightly above the average voting rate for all institutions (66%).

Since NSLVE’s launch in 2013, TWU along with nearly 1,200 colleges and universities have signed on to receive information about their campus voting rates. 

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