Fresno Pacific University is a winner in the California University and College Ballot Bowl, being named the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU) institution with the highest percentage of the student body registered to vote. In all 113 FPU students registered (caballotbowl.sos.ca.gov/).
AICCU schools were one of the categories in the Ballot Bowl. Other categories were California community colleges, California State University campuses and University of California campuses. The contest began August 17 and ended on Election Day, November 3. Category winners were:
- UC: UC Riverside
- CSU: CSU Chico
- CCC: Riverside City College
- AICCU: Fresno Pacific University
Awards were also given in each category for the largest number of students registered, most creative approach to registering students and most registrations at one on-campus voting location. The Ballot Bowl, presented by the California Students Vote Project, is designed to encourage voter registration among California college and university students. During the 2020 event, 82,634 California college students registered to vote, an enormous increase compared to the approximately 21,000 Californian college students who registered to vote using the Secretary of State’s online voter registration system the entire year of 2016.
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.