Black College Voters Less Likely to Use Absentee Ballots

Most college students across the country are looking forward to this year’s Presidential Election because it means they will have the opportunity to vote for the first time. While most Americans can arrive at polling places on November 6^th to cast their vote, some college students had to plan far in advance in order to vote. College students who do not attend school in their home states had to previously request an absentee ballot. In 2008, the number of the college students who voted using absentee ballots was 59.7%.

Black College Students and Their Vote-by-Mail Habits

Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, the lead researcher for The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning Engagement (CIRLCE), found that black college voters are less likely to vote by mail (use absentee ballots) than college students who are not African-American. Additionally, the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey’s Voting Supplement showed the following statistics about black-college students and their vote-by-mail habits:

• Only 9.5% of black college students voted by absentee compared to 20.5 % of non-black college voters under age 25 who voted in the 2008 election.
• 26.8 % of black college students voted prior to Election Day. Of those, 64.6 % did so in person and 35.4 % voted by mail.
• 31.1 % o non-black college students voted prior to Election Day. Of those, 33.8% did so in person while 66.2% did so by mail.
• 21.8% of non-black college voters voted by mail while 11% of black college students voted mail (includes voters who lived in vote-by-mail states).

Factors Affecting College Students and Absentee Voting

Kawashima-Ginsberg said there are numerous reasons why people do not request absentee ballots, vote early or vote on Election Day. Many of the reasons are economic (wealth, having a car), social or cultural. Additionally, she said African American people are community based; blacks usually vote based on who they know, meaning if leaders in their church vote so will they. Additionally she said the numbers for absentee ballot voting might be high for other racial groups because of where they attend school.

“Students going out of state play a role,” said Kawashima-Ginsberg. “White and Asian students have a tendency to go to private schools which are out of state so there is a higher need to use absentee ballots.”

The process for requesting and sending in an absentee ballot isn’t easy, which is another reason why college students may want to for-go the voting process.

“It’s based on how state lays out absentee ballot,” said Kawashima-Ginsberg. “Some ballots you have to pick up in person and others states send to you. There’s a range in how states set up rules.”

College Enrollment Increases Early Voting

Kawashima-Ginsberg says being in college increases the likelihood that people will vote early and vote by mail. This was true for both whites and blacks:

• For African-Americans 18-24, 6% of voters who are not currently in college voted by mail while 11% of their peers did. For whites, 18-24, 12.3% of voters who were not in college voted compared to the 23.1% voters in college.

Voting for some students such as Syracuse University Junior, Candice Frank, is very important. The 20-year old Pittsburg native who is currently studying abroad says whether she is in the U.S. or Spain she can’t miss out on her first opportunity to vote.

“I was raised in a household where voting is very important, especially as a black person because our ancestors fought and died for us to have a voice,” said Frank. “ We can’t complain about the way things are society or our economy if we don’t vote.”

Statistics provided by: Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey’s Voting Supplement (large scale survey given to 150,000 respondents after the 2008/ 2010 elections)

CIRCLE (Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, Lead Researcher)