Courtesy of Amelia Racicot ’27
As college students in Connecticut prepare to cast their votes for the upcoming election, the Daily Campus from the University of Connecticut and The College Voice examined voting patterns among students and where to vote.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, voters ages 18-24 had the lowest turnout in the 2020 election, with only 51.4% of the demographic voting. However, despite younger citizens voting less, their numbers in 2020 were higher than the 2016 election, in which the Census Bureau reported 46.1% of citizens ages 18-29 voting. Even this percentage was an increase from 2012 however, though only by 1.1%.
Seth Warner, a University of Connecticut political science professor who specializes in state and local politics in the United States from a behavioral perspective, spoke on how many anticipate youth voting trends to keep increasing.
“The youth vote is becoming a more determinative part of the election outcome. So most indications suggest that college students’ votes are going to be higher this year than they were four years ago,” Warner said.
Warner believes this is due to recent events including the Israel–Palestine conflict.
“I think a lot of young people have had political experience through protests around the Israel-Palestine war. I think political experience like that can translate into interest in the issues, but then also a willingness to vote,” Warner explained.
Connecticut has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1992. A poll from the CT Mirror published on Sept. 23 showed Harris leading Trump by 16 points in Connecticut. The poll showed very few plans to vote against party affiliation among Connecticut residents, with 93% of Democrats planning to vote for Harris and 89% of Republicans planning to vote for Trump.
Early voting in Connecticut
This is Connecticut’s first year offering early voting. On the first day early voting was available, Oct. 21, over 56,000 people cast their votes, according to a press release from the office of the Secretary of State.
The Hartford Courant and CT Mirror reported that lines were so long that Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, who came to the early voting location in Greenwich, decided to vote another day.
“There’s a half-hour line here, which I appreciate. People are taking their votes seriously,” Lamont said.
According to the Secretary of State’s office, early voting ends on Nov. 3. On the final two days of early voting, the normal hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. will be extended to keep the polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Connecticut instituted early voting after 60% of voters supported adding it to the state’s constitution in 2022, according to the press release. This made Connecticut the 47th state to implement early voting.
In the press release, Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas praised early voting.
“After all the hard work put in by our election workers to prepare for yesterday and the next 13 days, I am glad to see voters taking advantage of this convenient form of in-person voting,” Thomas said. “It provides voters more opportunities to cast their ballot, which is helpful for those with challenging schedules or when any last-minute issues make getting to the polls on Election Day impossible.”
Warner believes that early voting plays a positive role in getting college students coming back to the polls each year in the long term.
When talking about people’s voting habits, Warner believes that early voting has reduced the time and effort it takes to vote. This reduced effort means college students are more likely to go out and vote, which creates a pattern of voting.
“I think early voting has significantly reduced the costs, and that’s a good thing, right? Warner said. “You want young people to be involved, because once you start voting, it becomes a habit. We like that. People who participate, the more representative outcomes tend to be.”
Absentee and Out of State Voting
Absentee voting allows those who can not physically make it to polling place on election day to vote. For college students, this can be essential to their ability to vote as most are away from their hometowns where they are registered on Election Day.
Each state has different laws related to absentee voting, meaning students who live out of state and are registered under their home town must act under their states laws. Vote.org provides a list of how absentee voting works in each state.
According to the Secretary of State’s office website, Connecticut voters can apply for absentee ballots by providing an “excuse” or reason. A person qualifies for absentee voting if they will be out of town on Election Day or cannot vote in person because of sickness or disability, military service or certain religious tenets. Those working during voting hours at a polling place other than their own also qualify.
Warner said he believes that less restrictive absentee voting is the easier it will be for college students to vote when they are off at college. Although students have the ability to register in their college town, Warner found that many want to vote in the town they grew up in.
“Some young people will say, ‘I’ve been part of this community for four years. I want to vote here’. That’s a perfectly reasonable rationale. Other folks will say, ‘I grew up in this other place for 18 years, and I never got to have a say. I’d like to do that before I move somewhere else permanently,” Warner explained.
This year, Connecticut voters will be able to weigh in on the ballot if they would like no-excuse absentee voting in the years to come, meaning that voters would not have to give a reason as to why they need an absentee ballot.
The proposed law has received both support and backlash, with Republicans stating that the state is not prepared for it due to the recent voter fraud instances in the state, according to reporting done by WTNH. Groups such as The Connecticut Project Action Fund has voiced their support of the law, stating that it will give voters more options and remove restrictions to access to voting.
Where to Vote in Connecticut
To check if you are registered to vote and to find the nearest polling place, visit the Connecticut Office of the Secretary of State website. Anyone who is not on the list of registered voters can register to vote in person at early voting or on Election Day at their designated voting location.
UConn students can vote early at the UConn Bookstore or Mansfield Town Hall open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day through Nov. 3 excluding Oct. 29 and Oct. 31. On Election Day, students should vote at their assigned voting location.
Connecticut College students can vote early at the New London City Hall through Nov. 3. On Election Day, they should vote at their assigned voting location.
Mansfield’s Democratic Registrar of Voters Anne Greineder said that election officials have not encountered any significant challenges to early voting.
“We haven’t really had any challenges; it’s gone pretty smoothly,” Greineder said. “It’s been going pretty smoothly because it hasn’t been super busy. It’s kind of been steady.”
According to Greineder, there were long lines at the town hall when early voting opened, but no long lines at the bookstore. She thought that was because people were trying to avoid long lines on Election Day.
“We aren’t [anticipating long lines] because we don’t often have long lines because we have four polling places and that’s a lot for a town our size, so there’s fewer people at each polling place,” Greineder said. “But we do expect a lot of voters.”
Greineder said that she will not know the cost of early voting in Mansfield until the end of the election, but she said that extra workers were the biggest expense. She stated that extra training, equipment and food were other expenses.
Connecticut College Professor Borrelli Offers Insight on Student Perspectives Amid Presidential Election
As Connecticut College students dive into the 2024 presidential election season, Professor Mary Borrelli, a longtime Government department faculty member, has become a pivotal figure in fostering balanced and open discussions on campus. With her deep focus on bipartisan discourse, Borrelli spoke candidly about her observations on student engagement, shifting generational perspectives, and how the college community navigates political dialogue.
She opens her classes with an activity aimed at exploring the structure of the political landscape: students list their state, congressional district, and relevant election details like Senate and Electoral College votes. This setup allows them to examine political systems collectively and neutrally, creating space for inquiry without focusing on individual voting choices.
“I want my students to form a voting plan without feeling pressured to defend or justify their political affiliations,” explained Professor Borrelli. “It’s important they understand political processes as much as policies.”
In line with her emphasis on informed participation, Borrelli observed that students are increasingly interested in the mechanics of politics, asking questions about how political processes shape outcomes. Rather than focusing only on policies, her current students grapple with political volatility and uncertainty—factors that may be fueling students desire for moderation and understanding over taking strong partisan stances.
“I think the questioning I see now is very deep and very strong,” she noted. “They have this courage to ask tough questions, which is impressive given the volatility around them.”
Reflecting on campus-wide engagement, Professor Borrelli shared that Connecticut College has long had a politically active student body. She fondly recalled the 2016 election, when students of different political leanings gathered together to watch election results with mutual respect. “People were gentle with one another,” she said, describing how students found space to respect one another’s views even amidst a contentious election.
While the current political climate poses new challenges, Borrelli remains hopeful about the role her students will play in creating a more thoughtful political environment. “I see them learning to engage deeply, even when the stakes feel intensely personal,” she said. “And that gives me hope—because when this generation makes space for one another, it is a true social gift.”
