Voter Registration Among UW-Madison Students Increases This Election Cycle

The number of University of Wisconsin-Madison students who registered to vote this election cycle is higher than the last.

From August to October, the university’s Associated Students of Madison registered about 3,400 students. That’s 600 more than the number registered during the 2014 election.

The organization saw a spike in voter registration after the first presidential debate in September, ASM Vote Coordinator Billy Welsh said.

“I feel like after the debate, students became a lot more aware of like, ‘Yeah this is something that’s in the news, but it’s also something that I can participate in, how can I actually do that?’” Welsh said.

Welsh said the organization made sure to target as many students as possible by consistently being in physical and online locations students frequent.

“We shared our voter registration events on Facebook, (the) university sent an email, we’ve done op-eds in student newspapers, and just (have been) in good locations (around campus) consistently,” Welsh said.

Students have also contributed to the record high number of early voters in Madison. As of Nov. 1, more than 4,600 people have voted at two early polling places on campus.

The deadline for students to register and vote early on campus is Friday.