Yesterday’s primary election for the recall of Gov. Scott Walker saw students heading to the polls on campus and across the state, culminating the work from political student groups at the University of Wisconsin and serving as the next step toward the general election in June.

The UW College Democrats and College Republicans both put in effort leading up to the decisive election to encourage student participation, and the groups have plans to continue doing so leading up to upcoming elections this summer and fall.

For the College Democrats, outreach included making calls to its member list, sending out emails, ensuring its members knew when the elections were and making sure members knew they did not need a voter ID to vote, College Democrats Chair Chris Hoffman said.

Hoffman said that, without a doubt, last night’s election – which secured a face-off between Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in June – will have a large impact on students across the state.

“It’s very important, because we need to select a candidate who will represent the students, unlike Gov. Walker,” Hoffman said.

As for the College Republicans at UW, Chair Jeff Snow said the group also believes the results from the primary will have some of the largest effects on the state of Wisconsin as a whole. He correctly predicted Barrett would take the Democratic Party’s nomination and added June’s election will have “huge consequences” for students across Wisconsin. 

Like the College Democrats, Snow said his organization prepared for the primary by tabling and handing out flyers. He said the College Republicans have been doing a lot to focus not just on campus voters, but also on state-wide campaigning.

One factor in student turnout was voter ID, which was not necessary to vote in the primary election due to two injunctions on the recently passed legislation.

Hoffman said he thought the lack of need for voter ID would prove helpful in increasing the student vote as it would eliminate “one of the biggest hurdles.”

UW professor of public affairs and political science Susan Webb Yackee agreed.

“I think being turned away at the polls can be a real turnoff. It can turn young people off from voting,” Yackee said. “I think that’s an important message to show.”

Snow expressed concerns for the timing of the recall general election. He said because the general elections will be held in June when students might not be on campus, it is important to make sure students will still be voting.

As a result, he said the College Republicans will now focus on making sure students have absentee ballots or are registered to vote in their hometowns.

Yesterday, all students were able to register for absentee ballots for the election in June as well as the presidential election at the polls.

Yackee said looking to the future, she predicts a higher student turnout in June as compared to the primary, despite the obstacle of students being away from school.

“To speculate, I would say that we’re probably going to see higher student turnout in the general election rather than [yesterday’s] primary election,” Yackee said.

She said she thinks this is true because, ultimately, students have likely made up their mind on whether they support Walker or not.