On October 19 Fresno Pacific rose to the top of the leaderboard as the institution with the highest percentage of the student body registered to vote among Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU) members in the California University and College Ballot Bowl.
This second Ballot Bowl, presented by the California Students Vote Project, encourages voter registration among California college and university students. Categories are:
- All 114 community colleges
- All 23 California State University campuses
- All 10 University of California campuses
- All 78 AICCU campuses
Since the challenge began August 17, 76 FPU students have registered as new voters. The competition will end on Election Day, November 3, with awards to be announced November 16.
The first Ballot Bowl was launched for the 2018 general election by the California Secretary of State’s Office. More than 45 public and private institutions register nearly 11,000 students to vote, nearly doubled the number of students who registered using that office’s online system during the 2014 midterm election. California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo was the inaugural overall champion. (See Ballot Bowl Guidelines at sos.ca.gov/elections/ballot-bowl.)
The California Students Vote Project is a program of the California Secretary of State in partnership with the California Lieutenant Governor and a coalition of nonprofit organizations. “California’s youth are already actively engaged in improving their communities, and many college campuses have taken steps to support their work. For various reasons however, that activism does not always translate to the ballot box. Californian students have a chance to build upon the momentum they have created with their activism by registering to vote and showing up to the polls. We look forward to fostering an even greater sense of civic engagement and responsibility in our state’s future,” said Alex Padilla, California Secretary of State.