The United Council of University of Wisconsin Students is praising university students statewide, as the group announced Thursday that student turnout at polling stations Tuesday increased dramatically since four years ago.
On the Madison campus, voter turnout at the 10 student wards increased 66 percent, according to the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group. Other statistics showed in 2002, nearly 33 percent of registered voters on the UW-Madison campus voted in the gubernatorial election, while nearly 58 percent voted this year.
Taylour Johnson, organizing and communications director for UC, said the group's efforts were spread across the state but focused on UW campuses in Madison, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Oshkosh and Stevens Point.
UC has confirmed a correlation between the campuses they targeted and increased voter turnout. In addition to the Madison increase, preliminary statistics from the UC show student turnout was up 54 percent in Eau Claire, 49 percent in La Crosse, 52 percent in Oshkosh and 63 percent in Stevens Point.
Much of the UC's efforts focused on higher education and telling students this election would have a big impact on their college careers.
"This particular campaign was even more important, and students came out not just about voting but about voting for higher education to make sure we can hold our elected officials accountable for higher education," Johnson said.
Johnson added that tuition increases and student loan debt were two concerns of young voters this year.
Democrat Kathleen Vinehout defeated incumbent Republican state Sen. Ron Brown, R-Eau Claire. According to Johnson, she credited her win to the student turnout.
"[Vinehout] ran on a platform of improving higher education," Johnson said. "She attributed her victory specifically to high voter turnout."
Much of the increase in student vote, Johnson said, was due to the UC's "massive" voter registration drive, campaigning to "get out the vote," and efforts on Election Day itself.
"On Election Day, we were on the ground, letting students know that they could make a difference," Johnson said. "At Eau Claire and UW-Madison, we had voter shuttles getting students from campus or homes to their polling sites to vote."
Eli Lewien, chair of UW-Madison College Democrats, said the impressive student turnout will get politicians to pay closer attention to students.
"I'd say that the turnout was absolutely amazing," Lewien said. "Many passionate students who wanted to see change … and get the governor re-elected."
Lewien was also pleased that the state Senate "went blue," as the majority switched from Republicans to Democrats. But he expressed frustration over the passage of the marriage amendment.
"We're going to continue fighting into the future … to make sure discrimination isn't written into our state Constitution," Lewien said.
Meanwhile, Tom Wangard, who worked on the campaign of Republican J.B. Van Hollen, said students were part of the reason Van Hollen defeated Democrat Kathleen Falk in the race for attorney general.
"I think with J.B.'s campaign, we had a ton of students across the state working for him," Wangard said. "A lot of students turned out to vote for him."
Wangard added that despite several Republican losses Tuesday, Van Hollen's win shows that students really looked at the issues and were willing to cross party lines to vote for the Republican.
UC is a non-partisan grassroots and lobbying student association that represents 125,000 students at 21 UW campuses.
